


It's Superman

by MeGrimlockKing



Category: RWBY, Superman - All Media Types
Genre: Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-10-12 22:07:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 37,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17475830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeGrimlockKing/pseuds/MeGrimlockKing
Summary: Even among the extraordinary Clark always knew he was exceptional and he has had to live his life hiding what he could do. But an offer from the headmaster of Beacon may give him the chance to be man he wants to be.Cross posted on Fanfiction.net





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: First Superman and RWBY fic, not sure how well it reads or how smooth the two will blend but we'll see where it goes. This version of Superman is not based on any singular version it has elements of the Reeves version, comic version and a little bit of Smallville and the novels. Be sure to let me know what you think and please review.

The officer could only stare at the jittery, nervous mess of a young man that sat the table in front of him in the interrogation room. He felt sorry for the poor kid, he couldn't have been more than seventeen or eighteen and and frankly looked like he was about to be sick. He considered going to get a trash can or bucket when the young man spoke his voice weak and unsure.

"Did...did Lana make it home okay?" he stuttered out.

The officer gave him a look. Was that really the first thing he was asking? Not asking to call his parents, not why they had him here, he was asking if his date made it home.

"An officer drove her home, she's fine, a little confused, she doesn't actually know what happened, just that someone tried to rob the theater...she your girl?" he asked the last part trying to get the young witness before him to relax.

"Nnnno, nothing like that...I mean, I had hoped...but after tonight…" he stammered out before trailing off.

"Listen son, you're not in any trouble here, we're just trying to figure out exactly happened tonight," he said in a soft tone, causing the nervous teen to look up at him, slightly confused.

"Didn't...didn't the surveillance cameras get it I...I'd rather not talk about it," he mumbled staring down at his clenched fist.

Letting out a sigh the officer sat down across from him put on what he hoped was a compassionate look. "No luck kid the system was on the fritz...look just tell me what happen, just once and we'll be all set and you can head on home...sound good," he finished with a small smile. The young man, still looking grey and sick, let out an audible gulp and nodded. "Great, you want anything before start? Coffee? A Cola?" he offered kindly as he turned on the recording equipment. He just shook his head "Okay then, state your name for the record and just tell me what happened.

"My...my name is Clark Kent and ummm...where should I start?" he stammered.

"Just when you first noticed something was wrong, don't worry just take your time."

"Right well I was just heading to the snack bar...it's funny, I must have asked her a half a dozen times before we went into the theater if she wanted anything, but just as we sat down…" he trailed off with a nervous laugh.

"That's women for ya," he responded with a small chuckle.

"Well I was just heading up when I noticed that the guy behind the counter looked kinda nervous, no not nervous, he looked scared of the man in line in front of me," he paused for a moment and looked up at the officer.

"It's okay son, what happened next?"

"Well I walked up and asked if anything was the matter, I didn't think anything of at the time I just wanted to get what I needed and get back to my movie," he stopped again and let out a long shuddering sigh. "That when he spun around and put the gun to my face and I froze, I've never had anything like this happen to to me before," he almost plead as if trying to explain away his inaction.

"Don't worry about it, you did exactly the right thing, if you had tried anything you very well might not be here right now," the officer said softly, trying his damndest to keep the boy from panicking and calming up again.

"All I remember is that he...he didn't look quite right, there was something wrong with him, his eyes they were...we'll I don't know what they were, but I could tell something wasn't quite right in his head," Clark said in an almost despondent tone.

"Makes sense, the guy a know addict he was probably coming down and starting to panic, what happened next kid?"

"...then his gun went off," Clark said after a long pause "I don't know what happened but he missed me and he shot again but this time..." at this he trailed off again and looked back down at his hands. "I really don't know what happened sir, if his gun backfire or the bullet ricocheted off something but one minute he was standing there and the next…"

The officer let out a long sigh and had decided this was enough. Pretty open and shut and there was no point in making this kid relive what happened.

"Okay Clark I think we have all we need," he said calmly as he turned off the recording equipment. "Thanks for your help, you'll be free to go home in just a bit. I just have to make sure we have everything, just sit tight and I'll be right back," he told him as stood and walked to the exit, but just as he turned the handle he heard a small voice speak up.

"I've never seen someone die before."

The officer turned back to face Clark who was looking up at him from where he sat. For a moment he thought about trying to say something to try and comfort the boy but realized he had nothing he could say to really and simply walked over and patted him on the shoulder and said "It's rough, but it'll get better," and with that he left the room leaving Clark alone to dwell on his own thoughts.

Clark sat alone thinking and staring and his clenched fist. He felt sick to his stomach, the image of that man's skull as it shattered when the bullet struck, the look of surprise after his first shot, the wet sound of what was left of his head after it bounced off the theaters linoleum floor. He shut his eyes tight trying to force the images away when he heard the door open. He looked up hoping he'd be able to go home, but he was met with the sight of tall man with a shock of white hair and glasses enter the room. He made his way over to the table where Clark sat and gently tapped his cane on the floor as he smiled down at the confused young man.

"Hello Clark, how are you this evening," he said with a ghost of a smile on his face. Clark only stared up at in in confusion. "Right, how rude of me, I'm professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy," he said kindly extending his hand.

"Good to meet you sir, um…" he trailed off nervously as he instinctively reached out with his right hand, his fist still clenched before realizing this and quickly withdrew his hand and extending his left hand. Ozpin showed no visible reaction to this odd behavior and simply shook the offered hand.

"Of course you're wondering why I'm here," he said simply as he sat down and folded his hands in front of him.

"Well...kind of…" he mumbled, still confused as to why a school professor would be talking to him at the police station.

"To put things simply I have an opportunity for you Mister Kent," his answer only earned him another confused look for young man who sat across from him. "Allow me to clarify. I make it a habit of keeping tabs on those with exceptional abilities and you Mister Kent are truly remarkable," he said calmly and he noticed Clark viable stiffen and grow paler if that was at all possible.

"I'm…I'm not sure what you're talking about, I'm nothing special," he blurted out tripping over his own words.

"Hehe, I will give it to you, you certainly cover yourself exceptionally well. I was beginning to wonder if perhaps I was mistaken about you. That is, until tonight when I saw the video of what you did," he said with a ghost of a smile spread across his face knowingly.

"But the officer said the cameras weren't working!" Clark said desperately.

"And as far they know they weren't, but I will say I don't believe it would have done them any good. The officers and detectives here do fine work but unless they knew what to look for they never would have seen it."

"Seen...seen what?"

"Mister Kent would you kindly open your right hand and show me what you're holding," he asked kindly.

"What, what for?" Clark asked, clearly starting to panic.

"I think we both know."

Slowly, and with his hand trembling he slowly let his fingers unfurl to reveal a crushed and twisted piece of metal. In response Ozpin produced a similar piece and set it on the table.

"This was the first time you actually caught a bullet isn't it? Most of the time they just bounce right off you, just like this little piece which has an impression on it that bares a rather striking resemblance...to a fingerprint," he told him calmly as he picked it back up and eyed it.

Clark was speechless, his heart was racing and he could hear the pounding of blood in his ears. This was it, this was the end. He had been found out and soon the government would come, they'd try to take him, they would take his parents, his home, everything.

"Most likely from when you were still discovering your abilities and instinctively tried to protect your face," Ozpin drawled on still examining the warped bullet seemly oblivious the Clarks world collapsing around him.

"Please, please don't tell anyone, no one can know if anyone else finds out…" he plead but was silenced when Ozpin raised his hand to silence him.

"Now now don't fret Mister Kent, your secret is still quite secure and I have no intention of letting this knowledge spread. In fact even the officer on the other side of that mirror has no idea that this conversation is transpiring, let alone of what we speak," he told his smoothly. At this Clark looked frantically over that the mirror, behind which another officer undoubtedly stood. In his panic he hadn't even considered who else was likely listening.

"How?"

"You're not the only one with special abilities," Ozpin responded with a small chuckle, tapping his index finger lightly on his cane. "But I digress, I believe we were discussing an opportunity I had for you," he responded training his eyes cooly on Clark who, seeing no other options, decided to hear him out.

"What would that be," he spoke in a voice just barely above a whisper.

"As I said before I am the headmaster of Beacon, we work to train those who wish to use their skills and abilities to help their fellow man in our world's battle against the grimm and...others threats," he said the last apart cryptically.

"You want to train me to be a huntsman?" Clark asked a little concerned, it's not like he hadn't considered it, but his parents thought it was too risky, he might end up hurting one of the other students during sparring or his powers would be recognized as something other than aura while training.

"Hehe, not quite, but close," he said with a small chuckle. "I do wish for you to attend my school, but you're personal curriculum will be just a tad different. You would of course attend classes, join in team building exercises, and for all the others students you would simply appear as, more or less, one of them, with just a few exceptions."

"What kind of exceptions?"

"For one, if you should choose to to attend, you would be having private lessons with myself where you would be able to safely test the extent of your abilities, something I'm sure you've never had the chance to do before and, given the rather surprised look on your face when you realized you had caught a bullet earlier this evening, you're not even sure the full extent of your own capabilities."

It was true, Clark had never really pushed himself, he never really needed to nor did he feel safe doing so. He was always worried he would lose control and burn down a forest, shatter a building or accidently run through some poor unexpecting civilian at hypersonic speeds.

"Come to Beacon Mister Kent. I can teach you about the threats of our world and offer you a place to safely test your limits and more importantly learn to control your gifts," Ozpin said kindly leaning towards Clark.

"...but I haven't attended any of the combat schools, I'd have no idea what I'd be doing," he responded sounding almost as if he were trying to convince himself.

"If you wish to attend this would be a non issue, in fact there is another student who would be joining the class in a situation not entirely dissimilar to your own," he said reassuringly. "It's not common by any means, but there are those who demonstrated either exceptional skill or in your case exceptional ability that have been granted admission to our academy without the usual recommended prerequisites."

Clark was silent for a long moment. It would be nice to not have to hide what he could do all the time and place he could safely test himself sounded like a good idea, and on top of everything else he'd be training to use his gifts to help the world. He'd be a force for good and if he was being honest with himself the thought excited him to a certain extent.

"I...I'd have to talk to my parents," he said softly.

"Of course, and please Mister Kent do not fret about your secret, it is safe with me. I don't expect you to take this at face value. But you will realize in time, when nothing negative comes of me knowing, you will realize you have nothing to fear from me," he finished kindly as stood up and extended his hand for Clark to shake once again, which he did this time without hesitation. "I'll not force you to anything, I doubt I could even if I wanted to, I just want you to know there is a place for you at my school if you wish it," and with a quick tap of his cane he turned to leave.

Almost as soon as he left the door opened again the officer who had been speaking to him beforehand reentered the room.

"Okay Mister Kent we're all set here, you're free to head home, do you need a lift?"

"No thank sir, I can walk it's not that far," he said softly as the officer nodded and allowed him to leave. Clark would be home in moments, he'd head back into town for his truck in the morning, but right now the first thing on his mind was getting back home and talking to his mother and father. They would have a lot to discuss that night.


	2. Chapter 2

Clark stood on the front porch of his family's farmhouse his hand once again clenched around the bullet as he beat his fist nervously on his thigh. It was late, would his parents still be up?

He almost gave an audible scoff at this thought, of course they would be up, they always waited up when he was out late and he was home much later than was normal.

Letting out a sigh he raised his hand to grab the handle of the front door before letting it fall to his side again and turning his gaze to his fist still wrapped around the the warped piece of lead. He had caught it, he had reached out his hand and snatched it right out of the air. He had known he was bulletproof and he knew he was fast, but not this fast.

Clark was getting stronger by the week, and now it seemed he was getting faster too. He grimaced to himself, lying in the palm of his hand was further proof of the fact that, despite looking it, he was not human. He could pretend he was, and there were times when he could almost fool himself he was normal.

Tonight had been one of those nights, he was going out with a girl having a good time and for a little while he felt human. But then everything had gone wrong and he was pulled back to his reality.

Why did that guy have to try and rob a movie theater?

Who tries to steal from a movie theater?

What could have been going through his head?

These questions and many more were rushing through his mind when his keen ears picked up footsteps heading towards the front door.

Before the footfalls were to near Clark decided to enter his home and meet them halfway instead of having the conversation that was sure to come on the front porch. As the door swung open and Clark was meet with the sight of his father in a less than happy mood.

"Clark, where have you been? Your mother and I have been worried sick!" Jonathan Kent said sternly and a little louder than Clark would have expected.

"Why?" Clark said back bitterly, surprising himself at his response, he had not meant to say that, or at least not in that tone.

"Why?! It's two in the morning and we haven't heard from you all night!" his father shouted back his voice raising.

"...it's not like anything will...could happen to me…" Clark mumbled back.

"That's not the point, we're your parents, we have the right...Clark, son,are you alright?" Clark's father's voice and tone changed in an instant when he noticed the sick look on Clark's face as he sat down at the kitchen table. Clark had never been sick a day in his life, never a fever, never a cold and now seeing his son like this had Jonathan Kent extremely worried.

Clark sat still and didn't say a word before he simply shook his head.

"Clark...what happened?" his father's voice, that had been hard as stone a second ago, was now soft and laced with concern.

In response Clark extended his hand to his father and opened his clenched fist to show him the mutilated piece of metal. It took his father a moment to recognize what it was but once he did he reached out and plucked it from his son's palm.

His father was silent for a moment before he let out a small sigh, he thought he had an idea of what had happened."Date night ruined huh? Don't worry son, I know it can be rough for you every time something like this happens but it'll get better, I promise," he said giving him a small smile.

Jonathan Kent was hoping that having to thwart robbery and a ruined date night was all that was the matter, but he could tell that something else was wrong, seriously wrong. Clark had been known to mop about like this from time to time when he did something like this, he saw it as a reminder of the fact he wasn't like everyone else, but this was something else entirely. It was then he heard his son mumbled something he couldn't quite make out.

"Sorry son, what was that?"

"Is mom still up?" he said again this time loud enough for his father to hear though his voice was shaky and barely above a whisper.

"Yes she's upstairs, do you want me to get her?"

Clark thought for a moment. He certainly didn't want to worry her longer than was necessary about his absence. But then again did her really want to burden her with what had happened tonight? He knew she would have to find out eventually and honestly he didn't want to tell his father tonight either but that was not an option at this point.

"No...could you just tell her I'm home safe so she can go to bed," Clark asked simply of his father.

Giving his son a quick nod and muttering "No promises," he said with a small smirk both knowing exactly what he was referring to.

Clark's father left and headed upstairs and after a short time Clark heard the sound of two sets of footsteps coming down the stairs. As both his parents entered the kitchen Clark's father gave him a look that said 'I tried' and his mother ran over and began to check on him.

"Clark, honey are you alright?" his mother said in an almost frantic tone. At this Jonathan Kent spoke up.

"There was an...ahhh, incident tonight...shots were fired," Martha's husband said a little hesitantly before showing her the bullet.

Martha looked at smashed projectile before looking back at Clark and frantically looking him over as though she may find some injury on him.

"...I caught that one…" Clark mumbled quietly giving a vague gesture towards his father whose face changed quickly from concern, to surprise, to a look of mild amusement.

"Really? You just stuck out your hand and caught it huh? I guess you're getting quicker too," he nearly chuckled as he spoke before he noticed the still pale look on his son's face.

"Yeah...that one, but the next one just hit me and bounced back at him and...I was shocked, I've never done anything like that before I didn't, I couldn't react. The bullet bounced back and it...it…" he trailed off, not wanting to finish.

Without saying a word Clark's mother wrapped him in a tight hug. He hadn't said what had happened out loud but it was hardly necessary. It was painfully clear what had happened and his parents weren't about to ask him to relive it.

"I should have moved, or caught it, or…" Clark stammered until he felt his father place a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Don't. Don't start thinking like that son, you didn't do anything wrong. It's terrible what happened but…" he trailed off for a minute trying to find the right words. "But this man he...he made a choice to live his life a certain way and when you do that...your life can only go so many ways. It's awful to say but that's the sad truth of those unfortunate souls," Jonathan said feeling like he hadn't said enough or like he had spoke too much. He really wished he knew how to handle this.

"...something else happened too, while I was at the police station," Clark said with a significant tone of trepidation in his voice.

Hearing this Jonathan and Martha Kent exchanged concerned looks. Clark had been nervous seconds before, but now there was a good deal more fear in his voice and both his parents had the same thought and both felt their blood run cold.

"What is it honey?" Martha asked, almost not wanting to hear the answer.

"Well...once the officers were done questioning me another man came in," he trailed off for a moment before taking a deep breath. "He said his name was Ozpin, he's the headmaster of Beacon Academy...he wants me to attend his school," Clark told them not quite wanting to voice why Ozpin had asked him to come to academy, though he was certain they knew, there was only one reason anyone would ask Clark to go to a school that trained huntsmen.

"Clark...why would he want you to go to Beacon?" his father asked, the color draining from his face. He knew why, of course he knew why but there was still some small grain of hope in the back his mind that maybe, just maybe, it wasn't what he dreaded.

"Dad...he knows what I can do...he's been watching me," Clark said looking up and meeting his father's eyes.

"How long? How much does he know?"

"I don't know...I don't know, he just said he wants me to come to his school, to give me a safe place to train," Clark told them.

Clark's father began to pace the kitchen and frantically running his hand through his hair. He didn't trust what this man had asked of his son, if he knew what Clark could do it was hard to believe he just wanted to train him. There had been some close calls and every time it was someone trying to exploit Clark or trying to take him away to study him. Every time prior they had been able to deflect those who had come close, but now it appeared there would be no deflections or preserving of this secret.

"Clark… what do you think...do you think he can be trusted?" Martha spoke out breaking her husband's mental triad and causing him to stop his pacing.

Clark looked over at his mother, who gave him a soft but worried smile. He thought back to his encounter with Ozpin, he hadn't thought about it at the time but as he recalled their meeting he began to try and remember everything he could. His face was sincere, his body temperature was nominal, his heartbeat had been as steady as a metronome.

"I think he was telling the truth," Clark said somewhat unsure of himself. He could always tell when someone was lying, but something about Ozpin had, well, not unsettled him but made him feel unsure.

"I don't trust him, every time something like this happens they always want something, none of them ever just wants to help you," Jonathan said frustratedly.

"You and mom did," he answered simply and that seemed to cause his father's anger and suspicious to eb, even if it was just slightly.

"Clark...things were different, your mother and I…" he trailed off looking to his wife hoping she'd lend him a little support.

"What you're father is trying to say," she started, looking from her husband to her son "Is we never wanted wanted anything from you except for you to be our son. The moment we found you, you were ours and we loved you. We knew you weren't like other children but we didn't care. But now that you've grown up and started developing your...talents, and all the close calls we've had we...well, we worry that this man may try to exploit you, " she finished calmly.

Clark looked down at his hands as he let those words soak in. He knew there were people out there who would try to turn his gifts towards ill-intent and a few of them had come dangerously close to finding out the truth, the full truth, about him. But he, his father, and his mother had always managed to keep that nightmare at bay.

Putting all that in his head Clark could easily see why his parents were so wound up. But there was something about Ozpin, Clark knew, he could tell, Ozpin was telling the truth. This may very well be a chance for him to try and do something more with his life.

They were all silent for what felt like forever before Jonathan let out a long breath. "Clark...what do you want to do...you're mother and I we...we wanted to protect you from the world, but now the world has come knocking at our door. You're not a child anymore, you're a young man now and we will trust your judgement," he finish gripping tightly onto his wife's hand.

Clark took a long look at the only parents he had ever known. They had done the best they could with a child and life so full of unknowns and uncertainties. They had cared for and loved him since the beginning and had always treated him like their own flesh and blood. It was here again, at this thought, that Clark was reminded that he wasn't their child, not in any genetic or even legal sense technically. He wasn't even the same species. Yet, despite all that, they still called him son.

These thoughts raced back and forth in his mind. He was conflicted and he wasn't entirely sure what was right, or even what he really wanted. Should he stay? Should he leave? He wanted to go. He wanted to stay. He needs to protect his family. He should learn to help everyone.

All these things raced through his thoughts as he struggled to come to decision. Why was he having such a hard time with this? He had often wondered what it would be like to get off the farm and see what he was truly capable of, but now that the choice was in front of him he felt frozen with an inability to decide.

It was here that his eyes wandered from his parents to a photo framed and hanging on the wall behind them. Inside the frame stood his parents, far younger and holding a small dark haired child all of them laughing at something unseen.

Clark couldn't remember that day but his parents had told him about it. It was the first photo of them as a family after they had managed to scrounge up some papers that were able to prove that the Kents had legally adopted the young boy. This of course wasn't true, there was no way an extraterrestrial could in anyway have any sort of one hundred percent legitimate adoption. But that wasn't what was brought to the forefront of Clark's mind.

No, what came to him was the kindness and selflessness of the young couple in the picture. They had saved him, kept him, loved him, and protected him. They risked an awful lot the help some strange child they found in a field when it would have been so much easier to just turn him over to the authorities. The Kents made a potentially life threatening choice on that day simply because they knew it was the right thing to do, and then Clark knew what he was going to do.

Letting out a breath he wasn't even aware he was holding he looked back to his parents.

"I think...I think I want to go. I think it's what's best, I want to learn how to control my powers, I think...I think in the end it will help me protect you and help me protect everyone," he spoke softly not quite looking at his parents. But he could tell what they were thinking by the change in their heart rates.

The were worries, of course they were worried. But when he finally raised his head to meet their eyes he saw something there. Surely their concern was self evident, but there was also a clear look of acceptance and, at least Clark thought he saw, a tiny glint of pride mixed with their worry.

Letting out a long held breath Jonathan Kent beat his palm lightly on his thigh, a nervous habit of his when he felt uncomfortable.

"Well...I'm not gonna to pretend like that's what I wanted to hear but…" he trailed off as he briefly looked away from his son before meeting his gaze again. "But we…" he stopped again when he felt his wife take his hand in a firm but gentle grip.

"We just want you to be happy Clark," Martha finished her husband's thoughts for him. To which he simply nodded.

"Mom, dad, your the best parents anyone could ask for but...this something I need to do, with everything I can I do I can't just…" he didn't finish the thought, but he didn't need to.

His parents knew, they had know for a long time Clark would not be staying. They knew before he did, this farm was their life but it wasn't going to be his, and they didn't fault him for that.

With that Clark stood up from the table, scooping up the mashed bullet, and walked over to his mother and father before wrapping them in a hug.

"Thanks…" was all he could mutter as his parents returned the embrace.

They stayed like that for a moment before they broke apart.

"Well, it's late, I think it's time we all got to bed," Martha said as she wiped a tear from her eye. "There's going to be a lot to do," she continued with an almost forced smile.

"You two go ahead, I'm gonna stay up for a bit," Clark said as his parents turned to leave.

His father gave him a quick nod and pat on the shoulder. He knew Clark needed some time alone after everything that had happened, they would talk in the morning.

"Don't stay up too late, goodnight son," he said turning to head up stairs. He glanced back at his son quickly before turning the hallway light off and heading upstairs.

The lights clicking off had no real effect on Clark's ability to see as he navigated his way through the now dark kitchen and made his way back to the front door. Exiting his home he slowly made his way towards the family's barn.

With a quick hop he found himself on top of the barn. Tumbling the battered bullet between his fingers he glanced up at the shattered moon of Remnant.

Looking down at the deformed projectile he felt his anger rise. Pulling his arm back he tossed the bullet at the moon. He watched as it flew higher and higher and it did not arc.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Another update, hope all of you reading like what I've churned out here. Also fun fact, the last name Kent comes from the old Welsh word for bright/white so Clark technically fits with the naming scheme of Remnant haha. But I digress, I hope you enjoy what I've done, and be sure to let me know what you think.

The grounds of Beacon Academy were quite the site to see. Clark had never seen anything quite like them. He loved the fields and forests of Smallville but this campus was unlike anything he had ever laid his eyes on back home. As he rotated his head to take in the scenery he could almost feel his eyes actually shine with wonder. He knew he must have looked like a hayseed right now, gawking at the immaculate grounds and towering buildings, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He had rarely ever left Smallville and on the occasions he had, it wasn't to anywhere like this.

Unfortunately for Clark his new surroundings served as a distraction strong enough to ruin his normally extremely good situational awareness and he bumped into some poor unaware individual. On pure instinct Clark forced himself to stumble, fall, and land haphazardly on his back. Quickly re-adjusting his now askew glasses he sat up and scrambled onto his hands and knees as he made frantic effort to pick up everything he had caused the other person to drop.

"Oh geez, I'm so sorry I was distracted and wasn't paying attention and…" his stammered apology was cut off by a soft response.

"It's alright, I wasn't really paying attention either hehe,"a small and timid voice said back.

Looking up from his task Clark saw a rather small girl mimic his motions as she began to help him gather both of their scattered effects. She looked up periodically, giving him unsure and awkward smiles. He noticed that she seemed to favor her left hand, just like him.

To any other person this small detail may seem trivial and inconsequential and would like have gone unnoticed, but not to Clark. He often found himself looking for even the smallest similarities between himself and others. The same color hair, blue eyes, the same crooked bottom teeth. Anything that could draw a link between himself and normal people.

He couldn't help it as a small smile spread across his lips as he stood up holding the collected items haphazardly in his arms. The girl stood up as well and looked up at the young man who had bumped into her.

"Hehe, sorry again, It's my first year and I'm just super excited to be here and I just got distracted I guess," she said awkwardly rubbing the back of her head.

"Yeah, me too," Clark responded readjusting what he was carrying so he could free a hand to fix his glasses, which had been knocked askew in his fall. " I'm Clark by the way," he said extending his hand and inadvertently dropping about half of what he was carrying. "Oh geez," he mumbled as he quickly bent down and picked everything back up as the girl giggled causing him to flush slightly as he handed everything back to her. She stowed her effects in her bag before extending her hand to him.

"I'm Ruby, Ruby Rose," she responded with a smile.

"Nice to meet you Ruby," Clark reached his hand out just a bit too quickly and shook the young girl's hand.

"Sooooo...Clark, is that your first name or last name?" she half joked, causing Clark to let out a small chuckle. It wasn't the first time someone had made the comment.

"My last name is Kent," he told her.

"Well Clark Kent and Ruby Rose, we're a regular alliteration sensation haha...that was stupid," she joked lamely and they both laughed awkwardly before a rather uncomfortable silence fell between them. "Sooo, Clark...where's your weapon?" she ask breaking the silence and looking him over.

"Oh...well," Clark stalled, he hadn't been expecting a question like this and he awkwardly raised his fists and pantomimed a rather clumsy punch. "I just...ya know...punch stuff," he finished lamely.

"No weapon!" Ruby cried in utter shock, actually causing Clark to stumble back.

"Well...yeah," Clark mumbled.

"How are you going to fight!? You can't fight grim with your bare hands...can you?" the tiny girl practically shouted as she got right up in face before zipping around him at astounding speed, giving him the once over.

"Well, ahhh, no I just…" Clark was stopped mid sentence as Ruby lifted up his arm and prodded at him with her index finger. At this Clark pulled his arms from her grip and tightly to his sides. "You see what I meant was I ahhhh...I don't have a weapon right now,the rest of my stuff is being sent along after me," he said thinking quickly and hoping Ozpin would be able to help him out in this regard.

"Oh...right...ehehe, that makes more sense, sorry about that," Ruby said abashedly as she jumped back her face now flush with embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it," Clark responded with a smile that seem to put her at ease.

Just as she seemed to relax however, the school's clock tower chimed causing Ruby to jump before looking at her scroll before a look of panic.

"OH NO! WE'RE LATE! COME ON!" She bellowed as she grabbed his wrist and took off like a shot leading Clark along towards the opening assembly.

Clark was honestly quite surprised at the speed of Ruby Rose, to any other individual the world would have have been a colorful blur as they raced across the school grounds. But to Clark this was little more than a mild jog, but nonetheless it did remind him that he wouldn't have to hide here, at least not as much as back home. Before long they came to the doors of the assembly hall.

"Sorry about that, hope that wasn't too much," she laughed as she opened the door.

"I'm fine, a warning would have been nice though haha," he responded adjusting his glasses once again inadvertently bumbling into the closing door in front of him. He could hear a distant 'Sorry' from Ruby who had darted off, clearly in search of someone.

Clark smirked a little at the energetic little spitfire as he press the door off of himself as he crossed the threshold. He was stopped dead in his tracks however when he felt a small tug on one of his bags strap before he heard the sound of tearing canvas before his own effect were scattered across the floor.

Letting out an exasperated sigh he once again set to work picking up school supplies. He made a mental note to try and actively curb his self induced clumsy tendencies. It was all apart of the lackluster image he created for himself. It was why he stuttered so much, why he wore clothes a size or two too big. It was why he wore glasses he didn't need, anything little thing he could do to keep eyes off of him, to keep him from standing out. But here at Beacon, maybe he could lighten up a little bit, it would be nice to wear clothes that fit properly for once.

"Day one and already having trouble huh?" a voice said from above him.

Looking up quickly, causing his glasses to slide down the bridge of his nose, he saw a young man, roughly his age kneeling down to help him.

"Thanks, I got caught on the handle," Clark said with a smile.

"Hehe, no problem, I've been there before, at least you did tear the seat of your pants out,"he laughed back.

"The day is still young," Clark responded taking this things "Thanks umm…"

"Jaune Arc, nice to meet you," he said extending his hand.

"Clark Kent," Clark responded taking his hand in a firm grip and inadvertently making him wince. "Sorry," he said quickly letting go.

"Don't worry about it," Jaune responded shaking the aches out of his hand.

As the new duo made their way to the main auditorium they heard the beginning of Ozpin's speech and they quickened their pace. There was nothing that Clark hadn't heard before but he didn't want to appear to be a student who didn't care. They entered the auditorium and stood quietly and listened to what their headmaster had to say.

While Jaune listened Clark allowed his mind and eyes to wander. He recalled Ozpin telling him that the vast majority of these students would not make it through the qualifying examination the following day. He had not told Clark exactly what the exam would be but it was sure to be challenging if most of those around him, most of whom who had several years of combat training, would not made the grade. The speech ended and Clark was drawn out of his revery and a thought suddenly occurred to him.

"Um Jaune, do you happen to know where everyone is staying tonight? We haven't been assigned dorms yet," the young man gave him a curious look before answering.

"Uhhh, were you not listening just now? Everyone's supposed to head to the ballroom for tonight, camping style haha," he joked lightly.

"The boys and girls all together?! Is...is that...you know...proper?" Clark asked. Jaune looked at him with a confused look on his face for a moment.

"You do know the dorms are coed right? Chances are you'll be sharing a room with at least one girl if make it through tomorrow."

This caused Clark to flush, the thought hadn't even occurred to him. He had been raised with a certain set of values and the mere thought of sharing a common sleeping area with young ladies made him extremely uncomfortable. Clark was, however, drawn away from this awkward conversation by the buzzing of his scroll. Looking at the screen he saw was that it was Ozpin calling.

"Sorry I have to take this," he apologized to Jaune who simply smiled and waved as Clark made his way to the foyer where he would be relatively isolated.

"Hello?"

"Hello mister Kent did you enjoy my little speech for the second time?"

"Well ahhhh…" Clark started to stammer but was interrupted by a small chuckle on the other end of the line.

"Hehe, don't fret mister Kent I did not call to chastise you for letting your mind wander. I simply thought it would look a tad strange for me to single you out before our school year has even begun."

"Oh, okay, I thought I was in trouble already," Clark said slightly amused though there was a clear tone of relief in his voice.

"Not at all, not at all, I simply wished to speak with you. I was hoping to have a word with you face to face tomorrow before initiation. Would you mind terribly coming by my office in the morning so we discuss a few subjects on the matter of your time here?"

"Oh yeah, no problem, no problem at all," Clark agreed.

"Wonderful, I look forward to speaking with you again in person. Oh, and by the way I'm curious, how are you doing with the campus? I am aware it is quite different from your hometown how are you adjusting?"

"Fine, fine, everything is wonderful," Clark said just a little too quickly. What he had said was mostly true but there was one small thing that did bother him about Beacon Academy, but he wasn't sure it was something that should really be bringing up.

"Mister Kent, what is the matter?" Ozpin's voice said sternly, although there was a distinct kindness in his tone.

"Oh it's nothing...really…" Clark began but was cut off.

"Mister Kent," Ozpin responsed, his voice slightly more demanding.

Clark glance around, making sure he was alone before cupping his hand over the mic of scroll and whispered.

"Well...I'm just a little uncomfortable with the idea of all the boys and girls sleeping together in the ballroom...I just...I don't thinks it's proper is all," Clark finished and all he could hear was silence on the other end of the line. Then there came a small chuckle and an amused voice followed.

"Is that all?" Ozpin's voice sounded almost downright mirth full and this caused the heat to rise in Clark's cheeks in embarrassment.

"Well it's kind of a big deal for me," Clark mumbled back.

"I'm sorry Mister Kent, I am, I didn't mean to make light of your feelings. I'm just surprised is all, everything you can do and have done and this gives you pause. I was simply not expecting it," he explained as the bemusement left his voice.

"Thanks for the apology, maybe I'm just being oversensitive it's just…"

"How you were raised, I understand. But I'm afraid there is nothing to be done about it tonight. Just try and get through it and I can promise it won't be an issue after tonight," Ozpin told him apologetically.

Clark let out a small sigh "Alright, thank you professor."

"I do apologize for you discomfort, but I promise it will only be for one night. Have a good evening Mister Kent, I will speak you tomorrow,"

"Goodnight professor," and with that the call was end.

Letting another sigh escape his lips Clark looked around himself once more and took note of all the Beacon hopefuls making their way towards the ballroom. He noticed that there seemed to be a great deal more girls than boys. Clark found himself forcing himself to learn to deal with the now almost ever present discomfort.

"What would Ma and Pa think?" he mumbled to himself as he made to follow the crowd.

'It'll be alright, just find a spot off in the corner and face the wall' Clark thought to himself as he made his way through the packed room. His eyes were focused resolutely on the floor and he snaked his way between sleeping bags.

He had already changed into his too large flannel pajama and was holding his sleeping back tight to his chest. He tried his hardest not to look up or make eye contact with anyone. Every once in awhile he would look up to make sure he wouldn't bump into anyone. He had nearly reached his goal when he heard a voice call out to him.

"Clark!" he heard a small voice call out. "Clark!" it said again, this time a bit louder but he still did not look up. "CLAAAARK! OVER HERE!"

Finally looking up from the floor Clark saw the ever chipper Ruby Rose jumping up and down excitedly and waving him over.

He found himself slightly conflicted. It would be rude to ignore her, but at the same time he just wanted to lay down and try and get this terribly uncomfortable night over with.

"CLAAAARK!" she shouted again, this time even louder.

Deciding he could not simply ignore one of only two people he had managed to form any semblance of the beginnings of a friendship he turn to face her and gave her a small wave before heading over.

Keeping his eyes training solely on the girl in front of him he still couldn't entirely tune out everything around him. He could feel in ears, neck and face start to grow hot at the idea there were so many young ladies around him, some of which were wearing little more than underwear. But he was also well aware that he seemed to be the only one who thought it was a big deal.

"Hey Ruby," he said awkwardly after finally having made his way over. But before the words had entirely left his mouth Ruby had her hand wrapped around his wrist and was once again pulling him along. They stopped suddenly in front on another young lady with extremely long golden locks.

"Clark meet my sister Yang. Yang this is Clark Kent...see I told you I made a friend," she finished sticking her tounge out at the older girl.

"Whoa calm down Rubes, I never said you didn't make a friend I just know sometimes…," Yang started in an amused tone but Ruby cut her off.

"Well it doesn't matter, I proved you wrong, sooo..." she never finished her sentence and just gestured to Clark, as if that proved her point somehow.

Yang put her hands up in a gesture of admitting defeat, but her amusement was still clearly present. After letting a small chuckle escape her lips she turned her attention towards Clark, who noticed that her cheer seemed to ebb when her eyes feel on him.

Clark knew that look, he had seen it a few times before, however in those times they were the eyes of protective fathers not sisters, but that intensity was unmistakable. He felt rather like a show horse being examined for defects.

"So, Kent, what's your deal?" she asked calmly.

"My, my deal?" he asked confused.

"Yeah, you know, how do you fight, semblance, stuff like that. Who knows we might end up teammates, need to know what we're in for," she said in a very business like tone.

"Oh well…" Clark started to stammer but Ruby cut him off.

"Oh, you'll love this, Clark's a brawler, just like you," she shouted excitedly, throwing a few sloppy shadow punches.

"Really?" Yang said giving Clark a questioning look.

He understood why she look at him like that. His slouched posture, his glasses that didn't seem to quite properly on his face, and to top it all off he must not have looked all that impressive dressed in worn pajamas two sizes too large.

"I find that a little hard to believe, no offense, you must have a pretty good semblance to offset well...this," she said gesturing to Clark up and down.

"Yang! You're being rude!" Ruby shouted in near hysterics.

Yang gave her sister a stoney look before the corners of her mouth began to twitch and a massive grin spread across her face before a snort of laughter escaped her.

"Oh my god, chill out Rubes, I'm just givin' your new friend the business, we cool Kent?" she said with through her laughs and snickers as she offered him her fist to bump.

"Oh...yeah, yeah we're ah...we're cool," Said raising his fist and hesitantly bumped hers, and the moment he did he found himself wrapped in a headlock.

"YANG, STOP, YOU'RE GONNA BREAK MY NEW FRIEND!" he heard Ruby shout.

"Don't worry Rubes, just wanna make sure he'll be able to hang, you know we can play rough sometimes," she responded with a laugh.

Clark was at a loss at what to do, his lifetime of always allowing himself to be pushed around had allowed Yang to lock in a fairly tight headlock and was now driving her knuckles into Clark's scalp. Even though he didn't feel any pain he could still tell Yang wasn't really trying to hurt him, but it was still plenty embarrassing.

It was at this point Yang yanked him around and as her torso shifted he felt his face brush up against something considerably softer than the hard muscles under arms. Realizing what it was Clark, forgetting most of his restraint, quickly and deftly broke Yang grips and removed himself from the headlock before standing up bolt upright, his face beet red.

"Whoa, so he does have a little fight in him," Yang said cheekily.

"Ahhhh I...ahhhh," Clark stammered as he adjusted his glasses his face still red.

"Chill Kent, I'm done screwing with, it's getting too late to stay riled up," and she offered him her hand.

Clark eyed her wearily before reaching out and quickly shaking it.

"Ahem,are you sure your done beating up my friend?" Ruby's voice cut through.

"Yeah I'm done," she responded cheerily.

"At any rate Clark, I was going tell you, before my sister assaulted you," they heard Yang snicker " I was going to tell…"

"She saved you a spot next to her and wants to to cuddle up to you tonight," Yang cooed in a teasing tone from behind her sister.

"WHAT?! NO! THAT'S NOT TRUE, THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Ruby shouted, her face turning crimson as she began frantically waving her arms before turning to her sister "WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT!" she shouted at her snickering sibling.

Clark watched silently as Ruby berated her sister. He himself was mildly embarrassed by the jab but it was nothing compared to how Ruby was reacting and he decided to intervene before things came to blows.

"Ahem...pardon me...Miss Rose?" he began timidly and for a moment he wasn't sure she had heard him. But she spun around and faced, her face still flush and cheek puffed in irritation.

Letting out a breath she looked up at him. "Sorry about that uhhhh...what was I saying?" she began awkwardly as fiddled with the hem of her night shirt.

"There was something you wanted to tell me?" he offered helpfully.

"Oh Right!" she said her chipper tone returning before she seemed to become suddenly very unsure of herself. "Well I just uhhh ...just wanted to wish you good luck tomorrow," she finished her chipper tone returning, but it could do nothing to hide her heart beat. She was lying.

Clark found it strange but was not about to press the issue. It was late and he just wanted to get the night over with.

"Oh thanks, you too, both of you," he said offering his hand to both of them.

"Thanks, no hard feelings Kent?" Yang said with a small grin.

He hesitated for a moment before he offered her a smile "Sure, no problem Miss Ro…"

"Xiao Long," she interrupted "Different mothers," she offered nonchalantly seeing the slightly confused look on his face.

"Oh, sorry," he apologized.

"Don't worry about it," she said with a shrug.

"Well I'll let you two get some sleep. Goodnight Miss Rose, Miss Xiao Long," he said to each of them in turn and they bid him good night as well.

As Clark left them and continued his search his sensitive ears picked the the sisters continuing their argument.

"You chickened out huh?" he heard Yang tease her little sister.

"It's not like that, you just made everything so weird!" he heard her say in a hushed shriek.

Still not knowing what they were really talking about Clark put it out of his mind and found a corner to bed down in. Setting up his sleeping bag he climbed inside and faced the wall. It was going to be a very long night.


	4. Chapter 4

Clark woke well before sunrise, as he always did, only this time he had no chores to complete before the light broke the horizon. This thought struck him rather unexpectedly and he suddenly felt oddly empty, then almost scared and finally he was hit with an overwhelming sense of homesickness.

He had known after he had a moment to think that it would strike, but he had not been prepared for this. He missed his bed, the way his mother would sing as she prepared breakfast. He missed the smell of the clear air in the fields and the scent of hay. The way his father would tease him "all those gifts and you still can't wake up before me," he'd joke as he sipped his coffee through a grin. Clark suddenly felt a small prickle in the corner of his eyes and a lump in his throat.

He stood quickly and rubbed his eyes and silently berated himself for being so sensitive, he'd barely been away from home for a day and this was how he was reacting? Packing up his things and deciding some fresh air would do him some good, he made his way silently out of the ballroom so as not to wake anyone else, he exited the building and the cool morning air seemed to be just the right tonic for his grief.

The grounds were cover in mist and the sky was just barley beginning to lighted, tinted a cool grey as the sun waited just under the horizon. Taking another step out onto the veranda he just barely noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head his eyes fell upon a young lady with long black hair sitting on the banister with her back propped up against a pillar, her face turn towards the east. Clark hesitated a moment before speaking.

"Um, miss? Are you alright?"

He thought, for a fraction of a moment, he saw the bow on her head twitch before she turned to face him.

"Are you?" she responded cooly with a steely look in her eyes.

"I, uhhh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturbed you," he stammered out quickly.

"Well, you did," she said her voice still icy.

"Sorry, I just, well, I'm not used to others being up and I thought...well...I don't know what I thought. I just wanted to make sure you were okay, but if you're fine I'll leave you alone," Clark mumbled slightly abashed as he turned to leave but stopped when he heard her speak again.

"...Thanks, that's kind of you," she said, her voice noticeably warmer, although not entirely welcoming just yet.

"Oh, your welcome, just trying to be neighborly hehe," he said with a small awkward laugh.

"Neighborly huh?...That's a nice sentiment I guess," she said with an almost disappointed tone as she turned her face back east.

"You don't sound to convinced."

"That's because I'm not," she said cooly though not unkindly.

"How do you mean?" Clark asked as he approached with caution and started to take a seat on the banister near her. When she did not object he made himself more comfortable and leaned against the pillar directly opposite her.

"Humans can't be trusted," she said almost automatically. Had it not been for Clark's own discomfort at the mention "humans" specifically he might have noticed the girl across from him seize up for a moment.

"Well...we're just people aren't we? We all make mistakes, but most people are, at their core, good. Some just seem to forget what's really important sometimes," he said as he gave her a kind smile.

She looked back at him and gave him a small smile that was almost a little too sympathetic.

"I wish I could believe that," she said sadly.

"Well it's like my pa says. Turn off the news and talk to your neighbors and you might find yourself pleasantly surprised."

She look at him with a mildly surprised expression for one moment, then another before the small smile that had been there before grew and spread across her face.

"You sure are a positive one aren't you," she said with, almost with a small chuckle.

"Well I try, it's the best way to be," he said with a light laugh.

After a short silence she spoke again "Don't you think it's a little bit...naive?" her voice sounded sad now.

"Well...no, I may be optimistic but not blindly. I choose to see the good, but I don't ignore the bad either. It's easy to focus on the evil in the world, but if that's all you see it'll suck you down into it if you're not careful, and that is no way to live," he told her very matter of factly.

She was silent for a while as she turned to face the east again. She wasn't ignoring him, but she wasn't quite paying attention to him either. She seemed lost in thought and Clark remained quite and let the silence stretch on. After some time had passed Clark was going going to break the quiet but she beat him to it.

"What has you up so early?" she asked as she turned to face him.

Clark didn't know what her conclusion on his previous statement had been but he wasn't going to press the issue. If she wanted to change the subject he wasn't to make it a big deal.

"Oh, I was raised on a farm, we're always up early, I actually got to sleep in a little today," he said with a rather goofy grin plastered across his face. "How about you?" he asked back. He could swear he saw the very small smile on her face, more genuine and personal than those few she had sent his way, as she faced east again and Clark thought he had a pretty good idea.

"Ever since I was little I loved to watch the sunrise, the warmth, the colors, the light chasing away the dark it's…"

"An everyday miracle," Clark finished.

She faced him, her eyes slightly quizzical she stared at him. For a moment he thought he may have said something that might have offended her, but that same small grin managed to make its way across her face again, despite her own obvious reluctance.

"I hadn't thought of it quite like that but...that's absolutely right, no matter how bad the night may be...the sun is always there in the end," this time when she spoke her voice held a much kinder tone than before, as she looked him in the eyes.

Clarked noticed a great sadness there, but there was also a great strength and determination and smiled back at her. The sky then turned from grey to orange as the first light broke the horizon and both turned to watch it rise. The silence that followed was different than what had transpired before. It was kind, gentle, and comfortable.

"Well, it was nice talking to miss…"

"Belladonna, Blake Belladonna."

"Miss Belladonna, it was a pleasure, but I have an appointment to keep so I have to get going," he said with a small laugh as he offered her his hand. She let a small laugh escape her lips as she took his hand shook it.

"And what do I call you?" she teased lightly.

"Oh geez I didn't say did I? I'm Clark Kent," he said awkwardly as his scroll began to beep. "Oh gosh, I'm gonna be late. I'll talk to you later Miss

Belladonna," he said quickly as he turned to leave and began to jog across the campus.

"Call me Blake," she called after him.

He raised his hand and waved to show he had heard and he could hear her chuckle lightly.

Once he was out of sight Clark was able to me his way to the headmaster office in no time. One second, maybe two was all it took to find himself stand in front of the door labeled "Ozpin". He wrapped lightly on the wooden frame and heard a familiar voice speak.

"Come in Mister Kent," Ozpin said coolly, and Clark entered.

The inside was quite remarkable, the entire room was in circled by the machinations of the clock tower. But despite the gears and cogs the mechanisms didn't seem to make all that much noise. At the far end sat Ozpin and a stern looking woman with glasses who cast him an inquiring look.

"Clark, please come in, take a seat, would you care for some coffee?" Ozpin said in a friendly enough tone.

"Oh...sure, black please," Clark said awkwardly as he took a seat, his eyes constantly darting to the woman.

"Mister Kent, this is Miss Goodwitch, she is one of my most trusted associates, and one of those that helped track you down," Ozpin introduced causing Clark's blood to run a little cold.

"It's a pleasure Miss, but sir...you said you hadn't told anyone," Clark said trying to keep the accusation out of his voice. Ozpin gave him a quizzical look before a look of comprehension dawned on his.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but Miss Goodwitch here as well as another close friend helped to find you and learned of your capabilities. I did not, nor will I ever, tell anyone about your secret. These two were always part of my discovery, I would not have been able ascertain your true capabilities on my own. Trust me, they are every bit as committed to helping you as I am, I trust them with my life and I promise you have nothing to fear," Ozpin spoke with confidence and kindness and Clark could tell by the beat of his heart he wasn't lying. But he still wished he had been told this from the very beginning.

"Okay, I trust you," Clark responded quietly though sincerely.

"Very good, again I'm sorry I wasn't clear enough on our first meeting. But let's get down to brass tax here first and foremost we need to discuss your credentials,"

"My credentials?" Clark said a little confused.

"Yes Mister Kent, you are unlike most students here at Beacon. You have no history of combat training prior to your attendance here so we have created a history for you," Goodwitch said speaking for the first time as she fiddled with her scroll, a moment later Clark's scroll began to beep notifying him of a received file.

"Wow, this is pretty thorough," Clark said as he looked the file over.

"No one here will recognize you from their academies so we simply stated you were privately trained by Hearn Gywn, he's a retired huntsman and old friend, he doesn't ask a lot of questions and is willing to help, and no he doesn't know your secret," she said matter of factly without even looking up from her scroll.

"Oh, okay," Clark said awkwardly, not quite liking the whole "doesn't ask a lot of questions" aspect, but glad they had thought to provide him with this much aide.

"The next thing we must discuss is your semblance, or lack thereof, and your Aura," Ozpin interjected, causing Clark to look at him questioningly.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong per say, but you have so many gifts and talents that we must insist you decide on one to focus on while you are in attendance here, one that the other students will see. I'll leave that choice up to you, I'd like you to decide shortly but there is no immediate need. The more pressing of these issues is your Aura levels are, for want of a better term,a bit obscene. Our systems can't measures it," he said almost sounding amused.

"Oh...sorry," Clark mumbled embarrassed, to which Ozpin only chuckled.

"Nothing to apologize for Mister Kent, but it does mean we will be artificially manipulating your aura readings during combat classes so we wish to impress upon you important it is you stay aware of this," Goodwitch told him her voice sounding slightly warmer.

"Oh, okay, I'll be sure to keep an eye on that," Clark answered, hoping his response didn't come off as dismissive.

"Next, I'd like to discuss initiation today, I know you are aware we have a process by which we try to weed out those students who can't quite make it at Beacon."

"Yes sir, I I remember, but I don't know exactly what it entails," Clark admitted.

"Well, for the other students it will be a fair bit more complex than it will be for you. This test would normally determine what team you will be on for your time here. But given your unique case, you will not be assigned to a team," Ozpin stated.

"I won't? But then…"

"Don't fret Mister Kent, you will not be alone. The headmaster and I have discussed it and we have decided it would be best if you rotate between the teams of your year. This will allow you to learn teamwork, but it will also help aide you in hiding your abilities as you will, ideally, not be constantly at the scrutiny of other students," Goodwitch responded.

"We have arranged everything, all you need to do is complete the task assigned as quickly as you possibly can, and this should allow for everything to fall into place," Ozpin said confidently.

"Alright, I just have one question, if that's alright," Clark asked awkwardly.

"Of course Mister Kent,"

"When are we going to start the, uhh, private lessons?" Clark asked knowing he sounded very unsure, and Ozpin only chuckled.

"Eager to start? Well we'd like you to acclimated to life here at Beacon before we begin so I planned to begin at the end of month."

Clark found this slightly relieving, he certainly want to start testing himself but at the same time jumping right in while learning about Beacon and starting classes did have him a little nervous.

"Oh and Mister Kent, we have a small gift for you," Ozpin sounded a little eager himself. "I had these custom made and I'm quite proud of them," he said pulling a suitcase from under his desk.

He placed the container on his desk and turning it to Clark and opening it. Inside lay a pair of what looked like knuckle dusters that seemed to glow with a light purple hue.

"Thank you professor, um, what are they exactly?" Clarke's asked slightly embarrassed.

"We call them Graviton Dusters, they use gravity dust to increase your striking power, at least that's what you'll tell your fellow students. In reality when you equip them they use sensors to measure your strength output and adjust their weight accordingly to help you govern your power. I don't think they'll do anything to slow you down but it will be a useful warning system as well as a good cover for your immense strength," Ozpin said almost proudly.

"Oh wow, thank you Professor, I was actually wondering about this but wasn't sure it was quite appropriate ask hehe," Clark answered with a small nervous laugh.

"There is nothing to worry about son, we know coming to Beacon was never a thought in your mind before I approached you and as such we will attend to everything you may need for your education while you are with us,"

"Thank you sir, I really appreciate all if this,"

"It is no trouble at all, if you ever have any questions or problems please feel free to contact me directly, now that we got all the humdrum odds and ends out of the way, I think it's about time you went down and got some breakfast, you have a big day ahead of you," Ozpin said.

"Right, okay, thank you again professor, I'll let you know if anything else comes up," Clark said as he pick up the suitcase for his dusters and gave a small wave as he headed out.

"He doesn't seem all that sure of himself sir, he may be strong but he seems hesitant," Goodwitch said with slight concern in her voice once Clark had left. Ozpin was silent, but only for a moment, and when spoke there not a shred of doubt in in voice.

"He most assuredly is, that is abundantly clear. But I believe in him, and I think Clark Kent will change the world."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey they true believers, another update here. A little bit of a filler chapter here to help flesh out character relationships. Be sure to let me know what think, and feel free to comment on any questions or concerns you may have, constructive criticism is welcome and encouraged. Also wanted to throw out a big thanks to Magicninjaturtle for the continued support and reviews. Now with all that said, here is the next installment of "It's Superman"

"Clark! Hey, Clark over here!" the ever-chipper voice of Ruby rang out over the cafeteria. Turning towards the shouting Clark saw the little spitfire jumping up and down waving him over. Unable to suppress a grin he made his way towards her with his tray and suitcase.

"Hey there Kent, we missed you this morning, you must have been up before the sun," Yang teased lightly.

"Yeah, I had to go pick these up," he said gesturing to the case at his side, and he immediately noticed Ruby's eyes begin to sparkle.

"Your weapons came?! Can I see them?" she practically squealed with excitement.

"Well, I ahh, I don't think we're supposed to take our equipment out in the cafeteria," he said nervously and watched Ruby's shoulders slump slightly.

"Come on Kent, let's have a look, what the worst that could happen," Yang provoked him slightly and Ruby began to nod eagerly in agreement.

"Well, uh, I guess, so long as we don't really do anything…" he began as he pulled his case up only the have Ruby snatched it from his hands and throw the lid open.

"Oh, these are nice, really nice," she oohed and ahhed as she examines it. "Stable construction designed take high impact blows and utilizes...gravity dust, very high grade...masterwork quality," she ascertained quickly as she turned Clark's Graviton Dusters over in her hands.

"Yeah, they work with my semblance so I can hit harder," he said without really thinking.

"Oh yeah? What is your semblance by the way?" Yang inquired as she looked from her excited sister to him and Clark realized he had just inadvertently forced himself into a corner.

He had been thinking about it since he had left Ozpin's office and had thought something to do with durability would be the hardest thing to hide so that would be the best option, but he hadn't really thought about it in detail so he just started talking.

"Oh, my semblance? Yeah, it's a passive semblance, my uhh aura infuses my muscles and bones so I'm pretty tough and I hit pretty hard, I call it, uhh, Man of Steel," he rambled out quickly and was silently proud of what he came up with so quickly and making a note to tell Ozpin. He noticed Ruby looked starstruck but Yang quirked her eyebrow with a look that said "Really?".

"That is so COOL! Are you like bulletproof and stuff, can I test it?" Ruby cried eagerly almost jumping across the table before Yang pulled her down.

"Easy there Rubes, before we do anything we have a very serious issue to discuss here," she told her sister solemnly.

"What that's?" Ruby asked confused and starting to look concerned.

"That name, I mean come, dude, Man of Steel, that's pretty lame," Yang deadpanned casting a look at Clark who felt his ears start to burn.

"Well, I like it... let's see you do better," he mumbled the challenge back at her with a slight tone of embarrassment creeping into his voice, he saw a grin crack across her face.

" Happy to, you could have called it Dragon Skin, Ironhide, Hero Shield…"

"The Jackal!" Ruby interjected eagerly causing both of them to look at her with confusion.

"What?... It's a cool name," she mumbled slightly abashed as she looked down at her hands as she twiddled her fingers. "Never mind," she mumbled sounding embarrassed.

"Yeah, well, if you like it I guess that's all that matters," Yang said deciding, rather tactfully Clark thought, to drop the subject after seeing her sister's face turn slightly pink.

"Well, what's your semblance, Miss Xiao Long?" Clark inquired and she just grinned.

"First off, you can call me Yang. Second, well, you'll find out soon enough," she responded, her tone teasing.

"That hardly seems fair, I told you mine," Clark offered, but she just giggled and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Sounds like a personal problem," she mocked back in a playful sing-song voice.

Clark decided it was her business so he'd leave it alone, even if it wasn't all that important he still felt mildly irritated at how she had responded. But there was nothing to be done about it so he shifted his focus to his breakfast instead of the girl sitting across from him.

It smelled good enough and it tasted fine but it couldn't hold a candle to his mom's cooking. That woman's cooking could make a vegan eat ham Clark thought with a small grin as he began to smother his pancakes with butter and doused everything on his tray with syrup.

"Geez Kent, you gonna eat all that?" Yang said in mild disbelief.

"Huh?" Clark mutter as he looked up from his food at her and then back down at it tray. Clark had always had an extreme appetite but no one back home had ever felt the need to comment on it, perhaps because it was a farming community. But as he glanced around the cafeteria he did note he roughly five times the amount of food on his plate as anyone else.

"Yang," Ruby mumbled a hushed warning to her sister.

"What? I'm impressed, a guy that skinny, I mean where does it all go?" she responded, and she did sound impressed.

"Well my Pa said I must have born with a hollow leg hehe," Clark joked as he began to tuck in.

"Your Pa?" Yang asked a small level of mirth was present in her voice.

Clark stopped chewing and looked at her. He didn't quite like how she sounded. With his mouth full he slowly nodded at her, not quite sure what she found so humorous.

"Where did you say you were from?" she asked unable to suppress a little snicker.

"...Uh...Smallville?" Clark answers his voice having a tone of trepidation. As it turns out his concern was well founded as Yang was no longer able to hold back a laugh.

"Pffft, no way. No way, there's actually a place called Smallville?" she guffawed and covered her mouth in a vain attempt to stifle her laughter.

It was at this point Clark had decided he had had enough. He was used to being teased and being the butt of jokes, but laughing at his home and his parents was just a bit too much. So without making comment on her actions Clark stowed his Dusters, closed the case and picked up his tray.

"Well it was nice seeing you again Ruby, but I think I'll eat my breakfast somewhere else this morning. I hope you do well today, you too Miss Xiao Long," he finished the last part with a much cooler tone than he would have normally used. He wasn't about to be rude, but that didn't mean he had to overtly kind either. With that, he turned and left the table and proceeded to the back corner of the cafeteria which was relatively sparse in terms of people. As he left he could hear Ruby talk to her sister.

"Yang! Why would you act like that?"

"What? He's a farmer from a town called Smallville? How could I not snicker?"

"That's not the point, he's the first friend I made here and you just basically laughed at his home and family,"

Clark tuned them at this point and decided he would just focus on what was coming later. He realized he may have been a little over sensitive, he didn't think Yang was trying to be malicious, as a matter of fact, he knew she wasn't but that didn't make him feel any better. His mother had often told him people could be there meanest when they weren't trying. But it didn't matter all that much right now, he had to make sure his mind was on task for the coming test and so and just focused on his food. He sat alone eating for about fifteen minutes before someone wandered over and sat down.

"Hey there Smallville," Yang said as she plopped herself down unceremoniously directly opposite him, he only gave her a mildly confused look but did not respond as he returned to his breakfast. "Oh come on Smallville, don't be like that," she said teasingly as she reached over and stole a piece of bacon from his tray before popping it in her mouth.

"Can I help you with something Miss Xiao Long?" he asked coolly.

"What's wrong Smallville, did I hurt your feelings?" she teased with a smile, but when Clark leveled a steely look at her the smile fell.

"Did you just come over to keep making fun of me and my home, or did you want to mock my parents now too?" Clark asked his irritation clearly showing.

"Okay, I get it, I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to upset you," she responded, her cocky tone having disappeared and been replaced with one of...not quite shame, but something similar.

Casting her an appraising look and listening closely he could tell she was telling the truth. But that didn't do a great deal to make him feel any better. She still had been rather rude to him, and he hadn't done anything to her to warrant it. After how she had behaved last night and this morning Clark wasn't particularly sure he liked this girl all that much.

"You gonna say anything?" she asked, starting to sound irritated.

"Thank you for the apology, Miss Xiao Long," he responded in a very clinical tone, that clearly did not convince her.

"Look, I said I was sorry, what more do you want?"

"I don't want anything, you apologized and I accepted it," he responded spearing some eggs on his fork before dipping them in ketchup and syrup, trying determinately to act disinterested.

"Well it sure doesn't feel that way," she deadpanned at him, and Clark just shrugged.

"Okay, if that's how you want to be. I did feel bad for laughing at you but hey, whatever, you do you," she said trying to sound aloof as she began to stand, but the cadence of her heartbeat told Clark she was actually upset about his response, and Clark suddenly felt ashamed of how he had acted.

He knew that she hadn't been trying to be hurtful, and she had come over here to try and make peace and he had essentially thrown it back in her face. What she had done to him hadn't been right, but neither was the way he acted just now. His parents had raised him better than that. Treat others with kindness even when they aren't always kind in return, two wrongs don't make a right, and to give people a second chance. Letting out a sigh he made the conscious decision to defer to his better attributes.

"No, It's okay, It's just...Well, I've never really been away from home like this before, and I guess what you said just struck a nerve, I'm sorry I responded like that," Clark told her calmly, all the previous displeasure having disappeared, and he noticed that Yang actually seemed to relax a bit as she sat back down.

"Hey, I get it, it can be hard to be away from home, and I hope you know I didn't mean anything by it, I was just giving you the business," she said back, her grin returning.

"It's alright, I can tell, I might have just been a little oversensitive," Clark said, feeling just a little embarrassed. His mother had told him before that at times he could be a little too sensitive, but Yang seemed to disagree in this particular instance.

"No, you were right, I didn't know you at all and I shouldn't have...well, I shouldn't have been so…"

"Rude?" Clark finished for her and she flushed ever so slightly as she awkwardly rubbed the back of her head.

"Hehe...yeah, I guess that's a pretty good way to put it," she mumbled in a markedly different tone than anything Clark had heard from her before.

"Well, it's alright, I'll start fresh if you do," Clark offered kindly as he extended his hand to her. She examined him for a moment before letting a broad grin spread across her face.

"Sure thing Smallville," she said cheerily as she took his hand and shook it. Clark gave her questioning look at the use of the nickname. "What? I can't let you get off too easily," she said with a smirk and Clark found himself grinning in spite of himself.

"I guess I can't expect you can't fix everything all at once," Clark teased back and Yang took on an expression of mock shock.

"Mister Kent!" she exclaimed in a gasp of false surprise, placing her hand delicately on her chest as though she was trying to catch her breath from sheer audacity of such a statement, and Clark chuckled in spite of himself which cause her to snicker in response.

"Well, what can I say? The truth can be unpleasant sometimes," he teased back and they laughed together for a moment.

"Yeah, that's true I suppose, so...do you want to come back to our table? I'm sure my sis would be happy. She seems to like you for some reason," she jibbed back and Clark let out a small snort of laughter before nodding and picking up his things and stood to follow her.

"Honestly, I was sure you were gonna stay pissed, you were pretty quick to get over it," Yang said over her shoulder as they walked.

"Well, life's too short to stay mad about little things, and I was raised better than to hold a grudge, especially when you weren't really trying to be mean, "

"Huh? Guess your right, well it makes my life easier. Ruby was not particularly happy with me hehe,"

"I can imagine not, she seems...excitable," Clarke joked and Yang laughed.

"What a polite way of saying what I was thinking," she said through a small chuckle as they arrived at their destination. "Hey Rubes, look who I brought back," Yang said chipperly as she sat down next to her sister.

"OH! Clark, she actually was able to bring you back," Ruby said in a surprised tone although her was clearly quite happy.

"Yep, we had a real heart to heart, and now we're best friends," Yang said confidently as she reached over to Clark's tray and snatched up a sausage link before dipping it in his maple syrup before popping it into her mouth and chewing happily.

"Are you just gonna keep stealing my food?" Clark asked with a mildly sarcastic tone to his voice, to which she just gave a noncommittal shrug.

"Well, great! Glad to see everything worked out!" Ruby exclaimed happily.

"No point in making enemies, at least not this early, right Ruby?" Yang said jabbing her sister in the ribs with her elbow and grinned as she focused her eyes on thing on the other side of the cafeteria. Turning around Clark followed Yang's glance and his eyes fell upon a young lady with long white hair sitting by herself. Turning back to the sister he noticed Ruby looked a little abashed and he gave the duo a questioning look.

"Umm, should I ask?" Clark said a little wary.

"Yeah Ruby, should he ask?" Yang said wrapping her arm around her sister and giving her a little shake.

"It's nothing, just a little disagreement...a misunderstanding," Ruby said quietly.

"Ruby blew her up," Yang said as though it were the plainest thing in the world. Clark let out a snort halfway between laughter and shock, and Ruby looked downright mortified as the color drained from her face before turning bright red.

"Why would you tell him that!?" she practically shrieked and her older sister, who could only laugh.

"What? It was pretty great. You blew up the heiress to the Schnee Dust company, plus she was acting like a brat and nobody got hurt so yeah, pretty great," Yang sounded downright proud, but Ruby still did not look all that happy.

"Well it could be worse, lord knows I've had my share of embarrassing moments," Clark offered kindly.

"Really?" she said almost timidly.

"Sure, one time when I was little I accidentally ran through a wall and right into the girl's locker room of a gym. My parents were not happy...neither were the owners, or the women in there at the time," Clark shared his ear turning slightly pink. It was embarrassing, but it was an accident and if a little-shared mortification helped Ruby feel better, it was worth it.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure it was an accident," Yang interjected her voice dripping with sarcasm, and that made Clark's whole face turn beet red. A small grin on her face let him know she was only teasing.

"Well Yang, what about that time dad caught you…" Ruby started but she was cut off as Yang slammed her hand over her sister's mouth her own face turning beet red and that made a sly grin appearing on Clark's face.

"What's wrong Miss Xiao Long? Can dish it out but can't take it?" Clark teased her and she sent him a sour look. To which he only chuckled.

"Not the same thing Smallville," she said bitterly.

"Hehe, maybe not. It's alright you don't have to say anything if you don't want to."

"Darn straight I don't," Yang half mumbled before turning to her own tray.

"Gonna eat your own food now?" Clark teased.

She looked up at him and sent him a glowering look before sticking her tongue out at him. He laughed, then Ruby started to laugh, and before long Yang joined them.


	6. Chapter 6

Nerves were nothing new to Clark. Most of his life had been shrouded in secrets and silence, and as such he had found himself worrying about one thing or another that would have caused most teens to crack under pressure. Constant thoughts of "Be Careful," "Do they know?" "What's happening to me now" had cycled in and out of his brain for most of his life. All that was to say nothing of always feeling like he would crush someone or something by accident. He lived in a world of what ifs and cardboard and he had shouldered the burden as best as he knew how.

Buy what he felt now as he soared through the skies over the Emerald Forest was a different. He felt nervous, that much was sure; he always did when taking a test, but there was something mixed in, a new sensation that had never been present alongside his anxiety, excitement. God forgive him, he felt excited.

So seldom were his chances to cut loose, even the smallest amount, the thought of being able to govern himself a little less wad terribly exhilarating. Now, he wasn't going to show off; his parents had taught him better than that, but doing well on a test, well, he couldn't be blamed for wanting to do that could he?

Clark couldn't help but grin a little as he rocketed past the others. He heard a small exclamation of of awed "Whoa" from a blur of red he knew was Ruby and shocked "What the?" in a voice he recognized as Yang's. He thought for a moment that perhaps he may have jumped too hard off the launching platform...no he was certain he had. The sound machinery crunching under him as he leapt and the boom of the shattering sound barrier made him sure of that, and felt a little abashed at his over eagerness.

There was no real need to for him to proceed with such haste, he knew he would get to the northern end of the forest long before anyone else and claim his artifact with plenty of time to spare. So he berated himself slightly and hoped Ozpin wouldn't be too angry about the damage he had caused. But he didn't let his mind dwell of that and he landed in the ruin's clearing with thunderous crash.

Standing up and dusting himself off he scanned the area closely, making sure he was alone. Ozpin had made it very clear he was not to interact with anyone else unless they already found a partner and he did not intend screw up anything for the others.

Once he was satisfied he was alone; not that he really thought anyone else would be here yet, he approached the crumbling structure and saw a series of pedestals. On each small pillar sat a chess piece that was either black or gold, all except for the center one on which stood a red king, the only one in the set.

"That one's mine," he said to himself as he reached out and pocketed it.

His task complete he glanced down at his wrist where he normally wore the watch his father had given him only the remember he had taken it off to keep it safe before initiation.

"Right," he mumbled before reaching into his pocket for his scroll.

He had never had a scroll back in Smallville, he had never needed one, but Ozpin had insisted they have a way to communicate privately and so now Clark was the owner a piece of technology he barely knew how to use. He could make and receive calls like he had yesterday, set the alarm and for his purposes now check the time. Fiddling with the small device he managed to turn it on without breaking it and saw roughly thirty seconds had passed since he had jumped.

Letting a long breath as he drummed his hands lightly on his legs. He had been asked to complete the task as quickly as possible and he had, so was he just going to head right back? No, he thought, he'd go and check on a few people first then he'd head back, but he wouldn't interfere, Ozpin had been very clear that the others still needed to complete their own trials.

Listening close he could heard the distant sounds of combat and could make out a few of the voices he was looking for. Turning towards the most frantic he took off and it the blink of an eye he was heading towards the panicked tones of Jaune.

As he traveled he dwelled on the the fact that; no matter how often he did it, the world appearing to stand still as he ran was oddly beautiful and a little scary. He still wasn't quite sure if his perception of time slowing to a stop was a subconscious effort on his part or if it was simply an automatic biological response to moving faster than the normal eye could perceive. But he wasn't allowed to think about it too long as he was upon his destination in moments.

Peering out from his cover in the brush he managed to lay eyes on Jaune as he stumbled to his feet and a fairly tall red haired girl Clark hadn't had the pleasure to meet yet. He listened to their brief exchange and was able gather her name to be Pyrrha Nikos and he could tell just by how she carried herself Jaune had found himself a good partner.

Every motion was smooth, determined, and almost seemed calculated. Her voice was even and so was her heartbeat, which was in stark contrast to Jaune's which sounded like a jackhammer. He was scared but he'd be alright with her, she was clearly in her element. Yet despite this Clark did follow them for a bit, just to be sure and as it turned out his he was spot on inn his observations of Pyrrha.

The duo met a pack of beowolves and even though Jaune seemed to have trouble finding his footing Pyrrha was a great aide. She dispatched her foes quickly and efficiently and more importantly she was able to help Jaune with what appeared his own lackluster skillset. She called out to him and he responded, her mere presence seemed to actually make Jaune perform better. So, with his concerns and worries satisfied he turned and headed towards the sounds of two young ladies bickering.

It only took Clark a moment or two to zero in on Ruby's location. She seemed to be having a tough go of things. Not from the trail in and of itself, but she and her partner seemed to be butting heads.

Laying eyes upon the pair Clark had to suppress a grin. It appeared as though Miss Rose had;by some twist of fate, been paired up with the rather icy demeanored girl she had inadvertently blown up the day pervious, and the other girl didn't seemed to be too terribly thrilled either.

Yet despite their obviously dissatisfaction with one another there was little doubt that they were effective. Granted, they didn't seem to work together particularly yet, but they were able to dispatch any Grimm encountered with minimal effort. They may clash with one another but they were performing well enough, and Clark felt his mind ease a little. He'd be lying if said he hadn't been worried about Ruby, she was a good deal younger than everyone else, but that was clearing an unfounded concern. She was a more than competent fighter.

This train of thought was interrupted by the distant sounds of explosions and exclamations of excitement. He knew exactly who that was. Turning around he went towards the his last stop before heading back to the cliff face where Ozpin was waiting.

Yang was by away and far the easiest one to find. Her very bombastic nature mix with an obvious delight and thrill for combat made locating her an extremely simple task for someone like Clark.

Upon finding her he thought; at first, she was still alone as tore through a small horde of Grimm. But a burst of fire from the tree line disproved that. A flurry of shots peppered the beowolf about to strike Yang and the beast tumbled to the ground. From the shadows walked Blake.

"Nice shootin' partner," Yang said happily raising a fist and offering it to the other girl to bump.

"Thank you," she responded kindly, but did not return the gesture.

"Well, should we get…" Yang began but Blake held up a hand to silence her as Clark saw her body tense.

Not quite sure what was going on Clark paid close attention but couldn't see or hear anything out of the ordinary. Then; for the second time since meeting her, Clark swore he saw the bow on Blake's head twitch. His time to consider this was somewhat limited however as, without warning, Blake spun around and let loose a short burst of fire in Clark's direction.

The bullets whizzed over his head and disappeared into the brush. She wasn't trying to hit him, but she was trying to spook whatever it was she had sense into action.

"I know someone's out there, a Grimm would have charged. Come out and stop stalking in the shadows," Blake called out her guns still trained in Clark's general direction.

Clark had to weigh his options here. On one hand he could just disappear into the forest before they could react, but that might just put them on high alert and make them more paranoid for the duration of the test and could potentially cause more problems than good. On the other hand if he did reveal himself it would be a lot harder to not interfere.

"I won't ask again," Blake called out again.

"You sure there's someone out there?"

At this point Clark had made his decision. Putting his hands up over his head and forcing himself to stumble out of his cover he walked out into the clearing.

"It's okay, don't shoot," he rambled out as he made himself trip again.

"Clark?" Blake said as she lowered her weapons.

"Hey Smallville, whatcha doin creepin' in the bushes," Yang said with a laugh.

"Smallville?" Blake said in a questioning tone turning from Clark to Yang.

"Oh, yeah, Blake this is…" Yang began but was cut off by Clark and Blake.

"We've meet," they said in unison.

"Oh, that's cool," she said distractedly as she looked past Clark into the wooded area behind. "Still by yourself Smallville?" she asked as Clark grimaced at her persistent use of the nickname.

"Uhh, yeah, haven't run into anyone else yet," he mumbled trying to hide his mild irritation.

"Well, you better hurry up or all the good ones will be gone," she said chipperly as she wrapped an arm around Blake's shoulder and giving her a friendly shake, much to the others girl's clear displeasure.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind,"

"Do you want to come along with us? It might be safer, the Grimm here are unusually bold," Blake offered as she pulled away from Yang's grip.

"Thanks, but I think I should try and find a partner and I really don't want to slow you two down," Clark said trying to remove himself from the pair without appearing rude or ungrateful for offer.

He began to silently berate himself for not just heading back once he had completed the task at hand. But no, he couldn't just leave well enough alone and had to go poking around. His parents had told him that; while good intentioned, this habit of his of trying to watch over and help every single person he met would eventually put him in such position.

"You sure Smallville? We don't mind helping you out," Yang offered her voice lacking it's usual snark.

"Yeah...yeah, I'll be fine, you two take care of what you need to, maybe I'll catch up later," he said with a small nervous chuckle.

Both Yang and Blake looked him up and down as he adjusted his glasses before looking at each other. The looks on their faces said everything, they had serious doubts about his abilities to make it out of the forest. Ozpin had said there was a possibility they could die out here and they were clearly concerned, and Clark understood why.

He very much looked the part of a bumbling fool. He appeared for all the world as a scrawny and uncoordinated farm boy who had somehow landed himself in a situation we was not prepared. To them he must look like some poor soul well out of his depth.

"Well...if you're sure…" Blake started but trailed off.

"I'm sure, I really appreciate, sincerely, but you don't need to worry about me, I'll be fine," he responded, but this time when he spoke his voice carried a confidence and power neither had heard before, and much to his surprise it seemed to put them at ease.

"If you say you got this Smallville, you got this. Good luck out there," Yang said cheerily as she walked over and punched Clark lightly on the arm.

"Ow," Clark said on reflex as he rubbed the spot where her fist and struck.

"I hope you do well," Blake said with a small nod.

"Thanks, you too, hey maybe I'll see you guys at the finish line," he half joked.

With a small wave both turned away and began to head north once more. As they left the clearing Yang turned around and Clark was gone.

"Mister Kent, welcome back, I was wondering when you'd return," Ozpin said calmly though there was a tiny sense if mirth in his voice.

"Sorry, I was…"

"Checking in on your friends?" he joked.

Clark was silent for a moment, he knew he was expected not to interfere, and he hadn't, but his conservation with Yang and Blake may have been pushing it. What if he had delayed them, what if they did make it through because of his own desire to check in. What if he had cost them what they had come here for?

"Sir...I didn't mean to...I was just…"

"Do not fret Mister Kent, you have done nothing wrong. You have done exactly as I have asked and despite your delay you have still completed your trial much faster than anyone else in Beacon's history. So I believe congratulations are in order, you are now officially a student of Beacon," he said coolly and offered Clark his hand, which he took and gave a firm shake.

"So...now what?" Clarked asked awkwardly.

"Well, you have gone through the motions required to quell suspicion on your being here. The rest I will take care of, but you Mister Kent may head back to campus I'd you wish, or you may stay and observe, the choice is yours," he told Clark rather matter of factly.

Clark began to fiddle with the hem of his shirt and then began to wring his hands. He knew he couldn't help anyone, but at the same time he could just leave. What if something happened to someone and could have done something? With everything he could do wasn't it his responsibility to aid those in need?

"I think I'll stay and watch...just in case," he mumbled as his eyes focused on the forest below him, and while he couldn't be sure he thought he saw a small smile spread across Ozpin's face.

"I thought so," was all he said in response as he faced the woods as well.

So they both stood there and watched. Ozpin in a cool, calm, and stoic manner. Clark in a slightly fidgety and almost nervous state. He was not used to hearing sounds of chaos and not acting, it was simple not in his nature but still he abstained, but everything became harder when he saw a massive shadow swoop down into the forest.

"That's not quite normal," Ozpin said in a curious; though unconcerned, tone. When a burst of dirt and dust exploded out of the tree line followed by what; to Clark, sounded like an insect scuttling Ozpin turn toward the new disturbance "Nor is that," he murmured, still not sounding concerned.

Clark took a single step forward but a firm hand on his shoulder caused him to halt. Clark sent him and almost panicked look but the gaze Ozpin sent his way told what he already knew.

"I know it's hard Mister Kent, but I cannot allow you to interfere. This is as much test for them as it was a cover for you. They need to do this on their own," he told him sternly and Clark nodded.

While he knew Ozpin was right he also knew he had no idea what it was like for Clark. He could actually see what was happening, smell the sweat of panic, the scent of dust, and hear the frantic heart beats. Yet, despite all this, Clark he stood his ground atop the cliffside.

His resolve was tested however when he saw it was Ruby, Blake, Jaune, and Yang in the direct middle of the fray. There were others as well and Clark still felt a spike of panic whenever one of them came close to harm, but it was particularly bad when one of those whom he knew was in danger.

Despite his stress however he couldn't help but marvel at how skilled they all were. They would harass the beasts and control the pace of combat. There were a few close calls but they were clearly handling themselves very well. Even Jaune; who's combat skills weren't quite as strong, proved himself to be a remarkably strong field commander.

A handful of times Clark almost ran to their aid despite Ozpin's wishes. When they seemed trapped at the bridge, when Ruby was pinned, or when their backs were against the mountain wall. But each time they seemed out of options they always seemed to pull something out.

That was until near the end of their fight. The giant scorpion he thought was called a deathstalker had been dealt with and it seemed as though Ruby was about the finish off the the great foul bird. But as she ran up the mountain side and leapt to deliver the finishing blow Clark noticed something that made his stomach drop.

'She can't make it' he realized as she her approach began to slow. Glancing over quickly at Ozpin before looking back, he took in a depth breath and let it out in what he hoped was a convincing sigh . A powerful gust of wind flew out over the treetops and caught Ruby and managed to push her up just enough for her to deliver a savage slash the loosed the birds head from its neck, and Clark let out real sigh of relief. The battle was over and they had won and Clark felt his nerves begin to ebb away. A small chuckle off to his side caused him to turn and look at Ozpin.

"Hehe, I'll let that one slide Mister Kent," he said with a sly grin and Clark flushed with mild embarrassment.


	7. Chapter 7

The air in the hall was electric and the excitement almost palpable. Clark could literally almost feel the elation that permeated the atmosphere. They had done it, they had passed, they were all now officially students of the renowned Beacon Academy. Clark did note that there were a great deal fewer people here today than there had been yesterday, but that was the nature of the beast he supposed, not everyone was cut out for the life of a huntsman. He almost felt a guilty for being accepted when there were people who had trained most of their lives to get here and couldn't make the grade. Where as he was simply picked up and given a free pass.

But; he reminded himself, this wasn't like he was trying out for a sports team or attempting to make a living as a boxer or anything of that nature. The whole point of this, his whole point of being here was to learn how to better protect those who could not protect themselves. While some may call it unfair, there was no doubt he had more potential to do good than anyone else here. That wasn't bragging, and it wasn't a boast, to say otherwise would be simply dishonest.

Even keeping that all in his mind he couldn't completely shrug off that slightly guilty feeling. His skills, his abilities, what he was born with it, it's not like he was cheating or anything. He also had to remind himself that Ozpin had not allowed him in at the cost of others. His admission had no bearing or effect on anyone else who had come here but he still couldn't shake the feeling. He was shaken from these thoughts by a familiar voice.

"Yo Smallville, you made it through,"

He turned and saw Yang walking side by side with Blake and Ruby.

"Uh yeah, glad to see you all made it too,"

"So, who'd you end up partnering with?" Ruby asked cheerily as she glanced around.

Clark didn't answer that, instead he responded with a surveying glance of his own.

"I could ask you the same thing, where's your partner?" he teased her as she looked almost abashed.

"We don't exactly get along yet, but she's okay I guess," she mumbled.

"So who is it?" he asked already knowing the answer, but deciding to play along.

"You shouldn't wander off, like it or not we're stuck together for the next four years so we had better get used to it," Weiss said approaching the small group.

"Clark, this is Weiss," Ruby said with a great deal less enthusiasm than was normal for her.

"Weiss Schnee, yes that Weiss Schnee," she said proudly as she offered her hand to Clark. He gripped it firmly and shook before responding.

"A pleasure to meet you Miss Schnee, and I'm sorry but...am I supposed to know you?" he asked somewhat awkwardly.

Clark could tell immediately this was not the right thing to say to this young lady. The look of total and absolute shock that spread across her face after what he had said told him that. He could also see Ruby and Yang trying desperately not to laugh as Weiss pulled her hand back as though his touch were something disgusting.

"I don't find your little joke amusing," she sneered at him.

"I'm not joking," Clark said somewhat taken aback by her attitude.

"There is no way you don't know of the Schnee Dust Company, my family's company," she said in a haughty voice.

"Sure I know of you, but I'm sorry I don't know who are," he said almost defensively really wishing Ruby and Yang would stop snickering.

This was clearly a girl not used to not being recognized and the utter lack of a response once she had dropped her name was very evidently irritating to her. Clark watched as she took a step back, crossed her arms and somehow managed to make Clark feel as though she was looking down at him even though he stood a good head and a half taller than her.

"Did you grow up on a farm or something?" she asked with a tone of judgment to her voice that Clark thought to be entirely unnecessary.

Ruby and Yang had stopped laughing.

"Well, yeah, I was," he said in a timid voice.

Weiss almost seemed to shift from irate to assumed the instant he spoke, and Clark could tell what was coming next was not about to be kind.

"Well, that explains a lot," she practically scoffed before her face turn for mild amusement to one of confusion "How did a farm boy make it into beacon?" she asked none to kindly.

Clark was a little dumbstruck, sure Yang and sort of given him the business that morning, but this was a whole different degree of rude. This wasn't ribbing or joking, this was just plain mean.

"Well...I...uhh, I…" he stammered, unable to find husband voice, but he didn't need to finish.

"Okay, that's enough princess, back off," Yang said sternly putting a firm hand on the smaller girl's shoulder.

Weiss spun around and gave Yang a surprised look that quickly turned to irritation. With a small huff she pulled herself freevand stepped away with her nose in the air.

Yang gave Clark a sympathetic look to which he just returned a small abashed smile.

"Still think everyone's good at their core?" Blake chimed in. There was no accusation in her voice, only a slight tone of disappointment.

Clark was about to respond when the voice of Ozpin cut through the hum of the crowd.

"Greetings my future huntsmen and huntresses and congratulations. Those of you who stand before me now…" Ozpin began and Clark tried to listen, he really did, but he couldn't keep his mind on the Headmaster's speech and he found his eyes wandering the assembly hall.

His eyes almost immediately landed on Weiss. Her entire aura she produced seemed to exude a level of pride and arrogance and this thoughts were drawn back to what Blake had just said.

To be fair, he had only just met the girl and passing judgement wouldn't be right, it wouldn't be proper, it wouldn't be fair. But he almost had to agree with Blake. This girl had known him for all of five seconds before she began to sneer and look down him, and despite his better nature he was a little too riled up and upset to try and get over what she had said like he had with Yang.

That made him think about just how different the two incidents were. Yang had certainly been rude but she hadn't meant anything by it and nor was she actively trying to hurt or insult him. This Weiss however may not have been trying to be insulting, but he could also tell she didn't particularly care if she had been. She also held herself and acted in a way that made it abundantly clear she thought she was better than him, not in any particular way, shape or form, she was just better. And the way she said "farmboy", like there was something wrong with him.

'What was wrong with being a farmer?' he thought disgruntledly. Did she like food? Milk? Coffee? Did she like clothing made from cotton or wool? How about sugar or honey, did she like either of those? All things little miss high and mighty wouldn't have without people like his parents, friends, and neighbors. No; even though it may not have been the life for him, there was certainly nothing wrong with being a farmer.

Clark had gotten himself so riled up and irritated at the treatment he had received that he hadn't noticed that Ozpin's speech had ended and had begun assigning teams. Glancing up he the screen displayed four familiar faces. Ruby, Blake, Yang, and Miss Schnee, team RWBY.

"Clark, you're not a team, what's…"Ruby began to whisper as Ozpin's voice cut through the air again.

"Now that you have all been assigned to your respective teams there is a rather peculiar occurrence this year I'd like to discuss with you all," he said with the slightest sense of amusement and Clark tensed.

He had know this was coming, it was inevitable. His presence here and lack of assignment to any team had to be explained. He was going to be the outlier, the odd man out, and people were going to notice. So instead of having Clark be inundated with questions and inquiries throughout the year Ozpin was going to get out in front of what he had just called a "peculiar occurrence" and opted to simply address it when everyone was assigned and assembled.

Clark understood the necessity of doing this, he understood why doing it now with everyone here made sense. He knew it was best to explain his presence as a lone student during the time when every team was announced, but that didn't help him feel any better.

He was about to find himself the center of attention and he aborhored it. For some who had spent the entirety of their conscious life trying to blend in and be ignored this was about to become what was almost tantamount to a waking nightmare.

"This year we have had an anomaly, a rather strange and quite remarkable occurrence. We have a student this year who; through his own remarkable ability and some unfortunate luck managed to the single handedly complete the task assigned but did not acquire a partner. In fact he has no corresponding team mates as no one managed to claim his partner piece. We have decided it would be unfair to bar his entrance due to what amounts to bad luck, especially given his exceptional performance. So we have made certain accommodations for Mister Clark Kent," he finished as Clark's image came up on the main screen.

Clark's face turned beet red as all eyes in hall trained on him as he tried to make himself smaller as he slumped his shoulders. But he did manage a small crooked grin and a half hearted wave as whispers and murmurs started. There were alot of "who's that?" a handful of "Clarks?" a single "really?" and a solitary "Smallville?".

"Mister Kent will provide all of you with a unique opportunity most students of this esteemed institution do not receive. We obviously cannot assign him to any established team as it would grant said team an unequal advantage in certain aspects of your studies. As such Mister Kent will be rotating from team to team throughout his time here. This will provide you all the chance to work with another outside your team, something you will undoubtedly encounter in you career as huntresses and huntsman. It will no doubt be useful for you to learn and adapt to a fluctuating and changing team. Now, with all that said I thinks it's time you all retire for the evening as I'm sure you all like to get settled," he finished rather abruptly and turned to leave amidst the chorus of murmuring voices.

"Smallville you were holding out on us!" he heard Yang cry excitedly as he felt her wrap her arm around him, pulling him into a headlock and rubbing her knuckles against his scalp before releasing him.

"Well, I didn't mean to deceive you," he said as she straightened himself and fixed his glasses. "I was just trying to pass, I'm sorry," he fins he'd in a mumble, his face still burning.

"Are you kidding? THAT'S AMAZING! You got through the Emerald Forest all by yourself," Ruby cried happily.

"Well, not really, I think I just got lucky is all," Clark responded a little abashed.

"Luck or no luck, it is no small feat to complete the Beacon Initiation solo, there must be more to you than you let on," Blake said with a small smile.

"Well...I guess," Clark admit feeling his face burn even hotter.

"So...do you know who's team you'll be starting out with?" Ruby asked eagerly.

As if on queue both Ruby's and Clark's scrolls began to chime. In unison both retrieved their devices and saw they had received official messages from the Beacon administration. The attached message informed them of their dorm assignments as well as…

"Looks like your starting with us Smallville," Yang said cheekily as she read the message over her sister's shoulder "You gonna bunk with us too?" she finished sending Clark a small playful wink. If Clark had thought his face couldn't any redder he was sadly mistaken.

"I uhh …I uhh,ahem, I don't think so," he responded flustered as he looked back at his scroll as he heard Yang start to giggle. "I'm in dorm 3E," he told them.

"Aw, too bad we're dorm 3A, tough luck Rubes," Yang said elbowing her sister in the ribs lightly.

"Yang, stop it," Clark heard her mumble in a minute whimper as she raised her scroll to try and cover her now extremely red face.

"Hold on, do you have your own room?" Weiss said speaking for the first time since Ozpin had finished her voice laced irritation at the injustice.

"Uh, I guess?" Clark said a little unsure, it would certainly seem that way as he had no team of his own.

"That's hardly fair, why should some farmer get special treatment just because he got lucky," she whined.

"I'm sorry Miss Schnee."

"This is ridiculous, I need to speak with someone," she said and walked off in a huff.

"I don't think I'm going to like working with her," Blake deadpanned, the sound of Weiss' clicking heels got quieter and quieter as she pulled out her scroll.

"Well we better get used to it, we don't have much choice," Yang said in an unenthusiastic voice.

"Maybe we can trade her out for Clark," Blake suggested and a voice behind them chuckled.

"I'm afraid that's not how it works Miss Belladonna," Ozpin said through his light laughter. "In life we will inevitably be forced to work with people with whom we do not get along, it will be a useful life lesson. Besides I'm sure you'll grow to care for one another," he offered to which Blake just gave a skeptical look.

"Well I won't hold you up, I'm sure you all would like to get yourselves settled, but I would like to steal Mister Kent for a moment," he finished glancing at Clark.

"Of course professor, I'll see you guys later," Clark finished with a small wave as he followed Ozpin.

As they left his group of friends and excited the hall he turned to the Headmaster.

"So...what did you think of the little introduction I gave you in there?"

"I wish you hadn't made me sound so great, I'm really not…" Clark mumbled and Ozpin smiled kindly.

"I do apologize Mister Kent, I know you do not like all the attention but; and I'm sorry to put it so bluntly, you simply must get over this aversion to having eyes upon you. You are no longer living in hiding in the same sense you were, you are undoubtedly going to draw attention while you are here. Finishing the entrance exam by yourself and your combat abilities are far beyond that of even the best huntsman this world has seen. So I decided to set a precedent for your exceptional ability," he told him sternly but not unkindly.

"I know, I know, I'm just not used to it I suppose."

"I understand, and I do not expect you to change overnight, I simply wished to impress this upon you. You are bound to excel far beyond your classmates and you will undoubtedly garner a great deal of praise as well as animosity, it is the nature of such things."

To this Clark just nodded, he knew this, he knew all of this. This was always going to be the case and he was well aware of it when he decided to come here. He still felt terribly awkward whenever he was the center of attention.

"Looks like I'm going to have to get over some of hang ups," Clark chuckled nervously.

"Don't worry Mister Kent, things will become easier, I can assure you of that,"


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Another quick update here. This one's a little on the shorter side but I don't like to try and stretch a chapter out just to beef up the word count, it will end when I think it feels natural. All that said be sure to let me know what you think and I hope you enjoy.

Clark's dorm room wasn't anything to write home about, not that he minded. But he did get the feeling that Weiss wouldn't be complaining about him getting his own room if she saw it.

The whole room was roughly a third the size of the other dorms. There enough room for his bed, a dresser, a desk for his computer and he could move around without any real trouble. But there was no doubt that it was on the cramped side. It was little more than a remodeled and re-purposed store room. For Clark however it was more than enough.

He had everything he needed and he was not one to want for a whole lot. He sat down on the edge of his bed and cast a glance around his personal space, his own little sanctuary, a place for solitude. Reaching into his traveling trunk and pulled out a small box. Flipping the lid open he looked down in the container before reaching in and pulling out the watch his father had given him and putting back on his wrist.

The rest of the box was filled a series of small trinkets, mementos, and personal effects his parents had packed for him. A ticket stub from a movie he and his father had gone to see, a lucky rabbit's foot his mother had gotten him at the county fair, a small clear crystal from his "cradle" as his mother called it. There was also a small stack of photos that he pulled out and with a small smile and began to slide them into the gaps between the frame and glass of the mirror when he heard a slightly too aggressive knock on the door.

"Yo, Smallville, open up!" a familiar voice yelled.

Walking over and opening it he was met the sight of Yang Xiao Long standing in his doorway. She greeted him with a smile as stood on her tiptoes to look over his shoulder and into his room

"Wow, ritzy, I can see why Weiss was so jealous," she said sarcastically.

"Yeah well, it wouldn't really be fair to give me a full sized dormitory if I'm all by myself," he responded awkwardly as he glanced back into and around his room while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sure I guess that's true , well come on, we wanted to show you our setup. Not the brag but it's pretty sweet," she said cockily, her tone bragging with every syllable.

"Oh... sure."

Yang gripped him by the wrist and began to practically drag him down the hall. A few doors down from his own room sat a door labeled "3A". Pulling out her scroll and unlocking the door before swinging it open with a dramatic flourish.

"And here we are, Casa de la RWBY," and said proudly gesturing to her team's space.

"Oh no, that can't possibly be safe," Clark said mildly horrified at the "bunk beds" they had crafted.

"What? I think they're neat?" Ruby said dejectedly.

"They're death traps," Clark said simply as he walked over and examined them "Are those books?!" Clark asked in a voice that bordered on terrified.

Turning around to face the group he noticed not one of them was looking up at him. Yang was looking up at the ceiling rubbing the back of her neck. Ruby's eyes were locked on the floor as she gently kicked and scuffed her boot on the rug. Blake had crossed her arms and was facing the wall. Weiss was looking at her teammates with an almost smug look.

"You all wait here, I'm getting my toolbox," Clark said almost exasperated.

As soon as he was out of sight Clark took off and headed to a heavily wooded area. He searched for a moment and found a large healthy oak, giving it the once over he decided it would work just fine for his a quick chop with his hand the tree was felled.

He stripped away the branches and bark before he set to splitting the timbers with his fingernails. In no time at all he had a dozen sturdy planks that he had been able to rub smooth with the palm of his hand. Scooping them up he made his way back to the dormitories, making a quick stop at his room to pick of his tool chest.

"Okay, let's see what I can do," he said before walking over to the bed frame strung up to the ceiling.

"Where'd you get the wood?" Yang asked, clearly confused.

Clark could hear Ruby giggle before the sound of a loud smack followed by an "Ow, geez Yang."

"It was in my room when I got there, I'm pretty sure it used to be a storeroom," he said without missing a beat, choosing to ignore Ruby's snicker. He could hear Weiss mumble 'Of Course' in a satisfied almost relieved tone, but he chooses to ignore her and set to work.

Opening the lid of his tool box he took out his tool belt and buckled it around his waist before clipping it to the belt and placing a carpenter's pencil behind his ear. Walking over he began to take a measurement and began to jot down numbers. He began to mutter to himself as he did calculations in his head.

Once he had all his numbers in order he walked over and picked up one of his handmade planks. Realizing it was too broad he promptly split it with a swift pull before shaving it smooth with his finger nails. This was something he would normally have not done, but given what he had told them and what was expected of him he had given the whole thought process a lot less credence today.

"Okay," he mumbled to himself as he placed a board against the frame of the floating bed tied to the ceiling. Reaching to his belt he pulled out a large bolt as he placed the board against the leg of bed and pressed the bolt through the wood with his thumb. Opening one of his belt pouched he pulled out a nut and washer and and threaded them onto the bolt. Moving onto the next leg he had to lift the listing bed before he repeated the process.

He worked quickly and with efficiency. The task was by and large a simple one for him. His father had taught him all about carpentry and they has built chicken coops, repaired the house, fixed fences, and even raised a new barn after a tornado and leveled their old one. As he finished up he heard Weiss mutter something else but he had started tuning her out.

"There, that should do it," he said giving the frames a small shake.

"How strong are you?" Ruby asked in a mild awe as she gave a grunt of effort trying to pull the apart along the grain like he had.

"Well that his whole deal isn't it? Super strong and tough right?" Yang said as she walked over and jumped onto her bunk and began to shake and jostle it to see how sturdy it was. "Huh? Good job," she said giving him a thumbs up.

"Happy to help," he said with a smile as he stored his tools.

"They're adequate I guess," Weiss said as she examined them. "I suppose working on a farm did you some good," she said with a backhanded compliment, which Clark promptly ignored.

"I think they're great!" Ruby chirped happily as she leapt on the top bunk and began to jump up and down.

"Please don't do that, your going to hurt yourself," Blake said calmly.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," said responded happily before promptly slipping and tumbling off the top bunk. On pure instinct Clark spun around; perhaps faster than he should have, and caught Ruby before she hit the floor.

"Are you alright?" He asked concerned.

"Uhhh, yeah...thanks," she said as she looked up at him, her face almost the same color as her cape.

"My Hero!" Yang cooed in a mocking impersonation of her sister before letting out a snort of laughter causing Ruby to leap out of Clark's arms.

"Well you've seen our room, let's go have a look at yours," Ruby exclaimed trying desperately to shift focus and keeping her eyes resolutely off Clark.

"Um, sure, we can if you want. It's not much though,"

"He's right, he wasn't exaggerating when he said it was an old storeroom," Yang said as she sat up on her bed.

"It is only fair Clark, we did let you poke around our room," Blake said with a smirk.

"I fixed your beds, I didn't poke around," he responded in an almost defensive tone.

"Semantics, come on Smallville let's go do a grand tour of your closet," Yang said cheekily as she sprung up from and gripped his arm and began to drag him towards the door.

"Okay, okay, you can stop dragging me everywhere."

"Well don't make it so easy and maybe I will. You might be strong but you got no foundation, your really gonna need to work on your footing," she teased as she yanked him him along down the hall.

"Another thing I'll have to work on," Clark thought to himself. He knew that his balance and coordination were absolutely perfect. Not once in his entire life had he tripped, fallen, or stumbled without forcing himself to do so. The problem was he had now trained himself too well to allow himself to be pushed around.

"Don't worry, I'll get your fighting up to snuff, we can have you holding us back if your your going to be working with us," she said throwing a small smile back at him. "Maybe we'll even put a little muscle on those bones," she finished as her smile turned to a smirk.

"I think I'm fine, thanks for the offer though," he tried to say but shook her head.

"No dice Smallville, you need to know how to fight, a strong semblance is great may have helped get you here but it's not enough," she said very matter of factly.

"Well, uh…"

"Great, we can start tomorrow. Get you a little bit of combat training before classes on monday," she said happily, not really giving him an option in the matter as stopped in front of the entrance to Clark's room. He unlocked his door and let it swing open.

"Well...here it is," he said a little unenthusiastically.

"Wow, you weren't kidding," Blake said as she entered Clark's dwelling. There was barely enough room for all of them to move around in the tiny space.

"The grand tour, this is it," he said gesturing to his rather spartan room.

The walls had no posters, the bedspread was extremely plain, the room was devoid of any real character at the moment. The only exceptions were the family pictures Clark had pinned up around the frame of his mirror.

"Are these your parents?" Ruby asked as she examine a picture of a young Clark riding on a tractor with a man with dirty blonde hair that was just starting to grey at the temples.

"Oh yeah, that's Ma and Pa," he said gesturing to some of the other photos.

"They look nice," she said kindly as she turned to him with a smile.

"They're the best," he said with an almost sad smile. He really did miss them.

"You don't look like them," Weiss piped up from behind him as she looked around his shoulder.

Well of course he looked nothing like them. His father's hair was fair and his eyes were brown. His mother had dark red hair and green eyes. Clark's own hair was pitch black and his eyes were a shockingly; almost unnatural, shade of light blue. But this was particular aspect of his life he had never had to hide or lie about.

"Well, I am adopted," he said completely unabashed. He had no idea who his birth parents were, all he knew was they weren't from this planet and frankly that was enough for him. It did bother him sometimes but if they didn't want him he didn't want to know them.

Clark did notice that; despite his own apparent attitude on the matter, the tone and atmosphere had seemed to change. Well for the most part that is.

Weiss seemed to be largely unaffected by this statement but the other three seemed to look at him with...pity? Clark wasn't quite sure but didn't particularly like it.

"What? It's not a big deal," he said nonchalantly.

"Right...right, yeah we know, just wasn't expecting it is all," Yang said in a would be nonchalant voice, but Clark could tell she was still bother by something but he honestly couldn't say what. He got the feeling his being adopted didn't bother her in and of itself but it may have reminded her of something that did.

"It doesn't bother me, really. You don't have feel bad for me, my parents are the best mom and dad a guy could ask for," he said kindly but that didn't seem to help with whatever was bothering Yang.

"What happened to "Ma and Pa"?" Weiss interjected almost snidely. Clark was about to respond but Blake beat him to.

"What's your problem Schnee? What did he ever do to you? Why do you such a chip on your shoulder?" she said to the white haired girl practically bristling.

Weiss looked at the other girl like she had just been slapped. The look of shock turned to a glare before she stuck her nose in the air and just walked out.

"I think you might have a bit of a hard time with our team Clark," Ruby said a little meekly as she watched Weiss return to their room.

"I'll be fine, I've been the butt of a lot of jokes and rude comments in my life, I can handle it," Clark responded sounding more dejected than anything. He may not like it but he could deal with it.

"Say, why don't we all go down and get some dinner? I'm sure we're all hungry after everything we've been through today," Yang offered in an attempt to change the subject, although Clark could hear in her voice something was bothering her.

"Sure, I could go for a hamburger sandwich," Clark said without thinking and whatever was bothering Yang seemed to fade away as she began to chuckle.

"Hamburger sandwich? Really?" she said through her laughter as she covered her mouth.

"Yeah, yeah, I know I talk weird," he said, this time allowing a small grin spread across his face as he watched her smile.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there true believers, another update here and longest one to date to boot. I also wanted to say I appreciate everyone who reads and reviews this story. You're reviews are the fuel that feed my creative fire haha.

Yang had come to fetch Clark early the next morning. Clark had already been up for about a hour before he heard the pounding on his door. Slinging his duffle bag over his shoulder he swung the door open. There was Yang in baggy sweats with her hair tied back into high ponytail.

“Mornin’ sunshine, you ready to get pounded into the mat?” she said with a smile as she planted a light punch on his arm.

“Sure thing, just don't hurt me too bad hehe,” he said as he closed the door behind him.

“No can do Smallville, if your gonna run with us you better keep up or you'll get left in the dust.”

“Okay, but can you at least go a little easy on me?”

Yang stopped for a moment and gave him an appraising look.

“Hmmmm...no,” she said with a smirk after pretending to think about and Clark could only chuckle.

As the pair exited the dormitory building and headed out onto the grounds Clark took in the familiar sight of the world before dawn. Just like the morning before the air was cool; perhaps a little chillier, not that I'd made a great deal of difference to Clark, he had never bothered by the cold, nor had the heat for that matter. 

The fog that floated over the grass created a very calm and serene scene and the sky was just beginning to lighten. Clark turned to look at Yang and watched her stretch and take a deep breath before letting out a long satisfied sigh.

“Ahhh, love that brisk morning air! Really wakes you up, don't you think Smallville?” she said with a real vigor I'm her voice.

“Yeah, you bet,” he said without really knowing. He had never once had to problem getting up in the morning regardless of the time of year, whether the air was brisk or oppressive made very little difference to him. But he wasn't about to start an argument about the energizing properties of different types of morning air.

“Well, let's get moving, gotta get warmed up, don't want you pulling something,” she said cheerily as she stretched her hamstrings and quads before jogging in place to get her blood pumping.

Clark copied the movements he had seen her do; not that he really needed to, but he went through the motions regardless knowing it would look off if he didn't.

“Alright let's roll out,” she said eagerly as tworled her finger in a circle above her head in ‘let's get moving’ motion before setting off at brisk jog.

Clark followed suit and stuck close behind watching her golden mane bounce as she ran. Her heartbeat was as steady as a metronome as she pumped her legs and moved across the campus. Yang would look over her shoulder every once and awhile and smirk at him. After a few minutes at a steady pace she spun around and began to jog backwards kicking her knees high raising them nearly to chest level.

“Come on Smallville is that all you got? If you can't keep up we're gonna have some problems,” she teased with a smirk and Clark couldn't help grinning goofily back.

He weighed his options in that split second exchange. He could just zip past her but that didn't seem to be appropriate given the information he had given her. Maybe he could just jump over her, that would be appropriate but was it needed? Did he really need to try and show off? She up early and trying to help him, despite her teasing, she had been rather kind to him...in her own strange way. Was there really need to do much of anything? In the end he just decided that; in fact, there wasn't and he opted to just spin himself around and matched her pace.

“I'm not here by accident, I do know how to run,” he said with a toothy smile as he backpedaled right up next to her before bumping her lightly with his shoulder.

She laughed and bumped him back before turning forward again and continuing her run in a normal manner. Clark, for his part, just kept running backwards for a bit and pulled ahead of her before spinning to face frontwards again.

“Getting a little froggy huh Smallville?” she said cheekily as she caught up to him. He just turned and smiled down at her as he adjusted his glasses. “Well don't get too used to it, were almost to the gym and that ain't jogging, things are gonna get real for you real quick,” she said through an almost savage grin.

After a steady jog of about fifteen minutes the duo arrived at their destination. Yang let out a long sigh as she put her hands behind her head to allow her ribs to open up so she could breath deeper and more easily. Each of her breaths sent a stream of misty vapor into the air that swirled and roiled before dissipating into the cool air. Clark could see the small beads of perspiration forming around her hairline and the slight dilation of her pupils. But the relatively slow and steady beat of her heart told him she wasn't anywhere near being actually winded, this breathing ritual was out of habit not necessity.

“Okay Smallville, go the the locker room and get those knuckles of yours and I'll meet you in the sparring arena, and get ready to get laid out,” she said once she caught her breath her confidence ever presence.

“Sure thing,” Clark said reverting to his slightly meeker state. 

This was going to be an exercise in restraint the like of which he had never experienced before. Clark had never been drawn into a fist fight before. Granted this was a friendly sparring match to teach him proper technique but he was still going to have to hit her, and that was a whole other set of issues he knew he needed to get over while he was here. Not only did he have throw a punch hard enough to make it feel like it was real but he was also going to have to hit a girl. He knew this was an inevitable occurrence and he knew Yang was a tough and her aura would help protect her but hitting a lady was still gonna be a hang up for him. 

But as they entered the facility this thought process fell away from the forefront of Clark's mind. Walking in they noticed that the whole building was virtually empty. There was an attendant standing near the entrance and maybe two other students that had decided to start their training early as well. All in all Clark was glad for the sparseness this morning, the less prying eyes the better.

Walking into the locker room Clark spent as little time in there as he could. The whole idea of a unisex locker room was an extremely improper concept in his mind. Everyone here was a young adult and they should be expected to act as such. But at the same time...everyone here was a young adult, and that meant hormones were still running wild and the idea of a shared locker room seemed like it was asking for trouble. He silently thanked God his parents didn't know about this particular aspect of Beacon. But there was nothing to be done about so he just had to get into the habit of moving in and out swiftly. So Clark just grabbed his Graviton Knuckles and went to the training arena.

He stood in the center of the arena with his arm swinging limply at his side as he looked around and took everything in. He could tell just by looking that this place was built to take a beating. There were superficial scorch marks and scratches all over the battle area but there was not real damage. This place had been through the ringer but hadn't really been harmed in any meaningful way. But it had never had anyone like him fighting in it. Then again it's not like he was ever going to cut loose here, that was something Ozpin was going to deal with their private lessons.

“Okay Smallville, arm up and let's get down to business,” Yang called from across the room.

“Alright, just don't get too…” Clark began but cut himself off once he turned around and saw Yang.

He felt the heat rise up his neck, run across his cheeks before spreading to the tips of his ears. She was wearing what amounted to little more than a sports bra and a pair of extremely small and tight shorts.

There was never a doubt in Clark's mind that Yang was an extremely fit woman; not that he had given it a great deal of thought over the past twenty-four hours, but right now it had become abundantly clear to him just how well she took care of herself.

Clark had been raised not to stare but he found he couldn't stop himself. Her exposed midriff showed her abdominals flex and tighten as she began to stretch out and loosen up. The muscles of her arms and shoulders were astonishingly well developed and much larger than Clark would have thought, although not coming close to what he would consider unattractive or bulky. It was her legs that seemed to stand out more than anything else, especially once she started extending and stretching them. He could see the sinew and muscle of her quads and calves tense and relax as she set to her task of limbering up. But once she bent over to finish her routine and his eyes; completely against his will, began to wander, he felt something shift in him and it was not something he could say he expected.

He had seen plenty of attractive women in his time, and he was abundantly familiar with the...reactions that came with that. But what was happening now was entirely different. As he felt the heat rise from his core and into his face his eyes began to feel strange. They felt like they were heating up almost like he imagined burning would feel like, but there wasn't anything he would call painful when suddenly he knew what was happening; or thought he knew. He looked away as a focused beam of plasma shot from his eyes and struck the wall with a small sizzling pop before her shoved his hand over his eyes until the blast of heat stopped, leaving his eyes feeling gummy.

“Okay are you read...are you serious right now?!” Yang began as she stood straight and turned around before her tone shifted from cheery to irritated as she laid eyes on Clark covering his eyes with his face shining bright red.

“I'm sorry I just...it's just…can you put your sweatsuit back on?” he asked; nearly pleaded, almost desperately.

“No I will not! This is what I like to train in and you just need to get over it! This is ridiculous Kent, haven't you ever seen a girl before?” she almost shouted, her voice sounding distinctly aggravated and utterly flabbergasted.

“None like you,” he said without thinking and he could swear he heard her heart skip at the statement. 

“Ahem, well, you still need to get over this, I refuse to be ashamed of how I dress...and you can't fight with your eyes closed,” she mumbled.

“...alright….okay, I'm sorry,” he mumbled as he began to hesitantly remove his hand from his face. His eyes had never once done what they had just now, and he didn't have any idea how to control it. The last thing he wanted to do was inadvertently incinerate a classmate.

“Today Smallville,” she said sounding very near to irritation.

Taking a deep breath Clark removed his hand fully from his face but kept his eyes closed. Then slowly he let one eye split open then the other. Once both eyes were fully open he very hesitantly let his gaze shift back to Yang. 

She was standing there with one hand on her hip her cheeks slightly puffed out in irritation. But; while Clark could feel himself flush again, he didn't feel that same burning sensation in his eyes.

“We good? Can you be an adult this?” she said exasperated.

“Yeah, I'm sorry I just...well, I'm not used to,” he started to stammer out but Yang’s scowl switched to a cocksure grin.

“Well, don't sweat it too much, I mean, I get it, it just can't be helped sometimes,so I guess I can't blame you too much,” she bragged a bit as she flexed her right bicep before shooting him a grin. “Speaking of sweat, do you want to change? This is sparring, you're not trying to cut weight, your gonna be sweating like crazy in that,” she said gesturing to Clark's baggy and oversized training attire as she made an attempt to change the subject.

“I'll be fine.”

“If you say so, but don't be asking for a break every five minutes if you start to overheat.” she said as she lifted her duffle bag and tossed it off the arena floor. “Well, let's get down to business. First things first show me your fighting stance,” she said her voice suddenly becoming very business like.

Clark; a little shocked by the tonal shift, obliged all the same and took the boxing stance he had seen his father take in some of his old high school photos. Or at the very least he did his best approximation of that. Jonathan Kent had never shown his son how to throw a proper punch being afraid; rightfully so, that if Clark ever managed to put his weight and full body behind a punch the effects could be devastating. Instead he just helped his son train himself to hold back, to be careful, to exercise caution.

“Okay so you're a southpaw, that's good to know,” she said as she walked around him and examined him. “Not awful, but, not good either,” she said very clinically.

“First things first, your feet are too close together you gotta broaden your stance,” and Clark did as he was told and could hear Yang sigh in exasperation. “That's too broad, here,” said and manually positioned his legs. “You have to angle your feet too, create a strong foundation, and angle your body, you want to create as small a target as possible,” she gripped his shoulders and turning him slightly. “Hands up, near your face and elbows tight against your ribs, protect yourself,” she said as she finished moving his body around and slapped his forearm and made him knock himself on the face. “Arms tight Smallville if your too loose they won't do you any good,” she snickered before taking a step back looking him over.

“Am I good?” he asked a little nervously.

“Ehhh, good enough,” she said making a ‘so-so’ motion with her hand. “You'll learn more as you go, especially after you start taking some hits,” she said in a tone that nearly bordered on dismissive as she started to put on what looked like bracelets before giving her arms a flick and the golden bands transformed into the weapons he seen her use in the forest.

“Okay...uhh, let's do this,”Clark said with a clearly false sense of bravado as he slipped his knuckles over his hands. With a quick slamming of the dusters their mechanisms sprang to life for the first time since he had received. With mild surprise he watched as the metal spread up his forearms, past his elbows and biceps before stopping at his shoulder and connecting across the span of his upper back.

“Ooh, fancy, let's see how they stack up to Ember Celica,” she grinned eagerly as she slammed her own fists together, and before Clark knew what was happening she had leapt at him and their session had begun.

Yang let loose a flurry of blows at Clark with a savage tenacity. Each strike came in a good deal faster than Clark would have expected from normal person and he was reminded once again that; although he unique in this world, he was not the only one who was exceptional.

Each punch hit with a level force that surprised Clark and even though he wouldn’t say any of them hurt, the level of power behind each blow was quite substantial. He blocked most of her strikes but he did allow one to pass by his defense and hit his body and he crumpled over and acted as though the wind had been knocked out of him. But Yang immediately jumped back after her strike had landed with a look of mild shock plastered on her face.

“You weren't kidding about the “Man of Steel” thing huh?” she said said as she stretch her fingers.

“Oh geez, you're not hurt are you?” Clark said in a concerned voice as he ran over to her, only to realize too late she was smirking. He felt her fist drive itself into his jaw as he heard the small sizzle of dust igniting before a thunderous boom filled the arena and he was sent rocketing back into the reinforced wall.

“Piece of advice Smallville, never lower your guard,” she told him cheekily as she walked over to him and offered him her hand as he shook the remnants of dust out of his hair.

“Thanks,” he said as he reached up and took her hand only to feel himself being yanked up and pulled over her shoulder as she threw him back across the arena where he landed flat on his back.

“What did I just say?” she said as she looked down at on the floor, her voice equal parts exasperated and amused. 

“Okay, okay, I get it, just help me up,” he grumbled as he stretch his arm out.

“Alright ya big baby,” she teased as she gripped his hand and realized too late what was happening.

Even from his position on his back Clark was still more than strong enough to overcome any leverage advantage Yang may of had and with a quick jerk he knocked off balance as he swiftly sat up and drove his fist into her stomach. For the first time Clark felt his Graviton Knuckles engage, telling him he was exerting too much force. He dialed his power back just as his fist met Yang’s skin and the restraint mechanism switched off. Even with him pulling his punches the force of the blow was still enough to drive the wind out of her lungs and send her soaring across the room.

Unlike Clark however Yang was able to right herself midair and managed to land on her feet with a small grunt. Clark rose to his feet and saw her holding her stomach with one hand her face equal parts shocked and elated as an enormous grin spread across her face.

“So, the farm boy has a little fight in him huh? Good, I thought I might get bored,” she grinned eagerly as she wiped a little spittle from her mouth before she began to shake out her limbs and hop from one foot to the other before falling back into her combat stance. Her entire demeanor had changed, she was excited now, she was eager, and almost shivering in anticipation.

“Well...come on then,” Clark taunted; yes taunted, and beckoned with his hand for her to come at him and she was more than happy to oblige.

After knowing for certain his equipment would do exactly as Ozpin intended Clark was a lot less hesitant about hitting back. Granted he still wasn't happy about hitting a lady, but Yang wasn't holding back and he wasn't about to be a doormat.

He still allowed her to control the pace and flow of the match although he was by no means just laying down and taking a beating. But he noticed something strange as the fight dragged on. Every time he did land a punch on Yang she seemed to throw it back even harder. She had almost seemed to have stopped slipping and dodging his blows in favor of blocking his strikes even when he knew it would be better for her to avoid the attack all together.

His next strike fist found its mark and he could actually feel her aura react to the hit. It seemed to flex, surge then recoil as she wrapped her arm around his; pinning it to her side, and just began to unload haymaker after haymaker to his stomach before driving an elbow across the ridge of his brow knocking his glasses askew and following up with a powerful kick to his sternum to drive him back.

“Geez...you're like a piece of iron,” she said with huffing breaths as she pulled air greedily into her lungs, but the smile never left her face.

Clark was; for his part, was still conveying like he was still on the losing end of a fight. He couldn't force himself to sweat or raise his heartbeat but he did hold his stomach as he grimaced in a reasonably convincing display of pain and quickened his own breathing.

“Well...I...have...to be...good at...something,” Clark joked through the huffs of artificially heavy breaths. 

“Hehe, that's true, ready for round two?” she nearly cooed with an almost feral glint of joy in her eye. 

In response Clark simply put his hands up and grinned. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying this to some degree. He had never been able to do anything like this before and he was having fun, he really was. Sure he had smashed steel doors, lifted cars, and run from one county to another in seconds but this was different. Much like his initiation he wasn't hiding here, not entirely, and it was liberating in a way he had never felt before.

The pair engaged again and began to trade blows once more only this time Yang actually seemed to be hitting even harder than before. Did she just get stronger as the fight went on? She hadn't seen fit to tell him her semblance the day previous and it seemed like she was showing it off now, even if he didn't know exactly what it was.

As this exchange was drawn out a few things became clear to Clark. First, Yang was an exceptionally skilled fighter, her skills were far beyond his own and if it weren't for his own personal power set she have certainly ground him into the mat like she had been threatening to do since she came to get him this morning. Second, she was definitely getting stronger the more they fought. At first her strikes had sounded like it would if she had hit anyone else, now each punch sounded like cannon fire when they landed. As he let his mind wander a bit he was brought back to reality by Yang’s voice cutting through his thoughts.

“Keep your hands up,” she grinned as she caught him under the chin with a brutal uppercut before planting her lead foot and unloading a storm of blows onto his abdomen before dropping low and sweeping his legs out from under him. He dropped to the ground and the back of his head bounced off the floor and he just managed to see Yang lunged forward and drive her fist down towards his face.

Clark was able to dodge just as her gauntlet clad hand crashed down right next to his ear. Reaching over, his fingers wrapped around her wrist and he pulled and rolled her over. He heard a small “whoa” escape her lips as she was rotated and there positions were reversed. Clark's knees slammed down on either side of her hips as he mounted her and raised his fist as she let a small gasp escape her lips.

“Mister Kent! Is this proper?!” she cried out in a mock tone of surprise but it was enough to give Clark pause as he realized exactly the position they were in. He felt is face turned red for what felt like the the millionth time in the past two days and realized gar too late that this was exactly what Yang was trying to do as she bucked her hips up in an explosive surge as she dislodged him and freed her legs. Pulling her knees up to her chest she managed to plant her feet squarely on Clark's chest and propelled him off of her with a double booted kick.

This time Clark managed to regain himself and landed on his feet and skidded back and felt the soles of his shoes wearing down. When he looked back Yang was already on her feet.

“You're too easy sometimes Smallville,” she taunted through heavy gasps her breath staring to become ragged and raspy. Her entire body was covered in sheen of sweat and her hair was beginning to become undone from its tie and was now distinctly disheveled and beginning to fall in her face. Her heartbeat was in overdrive and cheeks had begun to flush from the exertion. 

This was getting near the end of the match Clark thought. Yang wasn't about to back down and he knew there was no way she was ever going to beat him, not legitimately, and he needed to get this thing to end or she may actually end up hurting herself.

On the next exchange he was going to let this end he decided. The next good blow she landed he was going to drop. He had already let this go on a little longer than he probably should have anyway. So as they approached each other once more Clark purposely let his shoulders drop a little and allowed his footing to become sloppy.

But something was odd, something off when they came to blows this time. Yang seemed to be letting a lot more of his punches hit their mark and her own hits were considerably softer, and Clark began to berate himself for letting this go on for so long. But then he heard her heart start to race even faster, was she excited? A series a quick jabs landed square on Clark's nose and wound up and swung a huge sweeping blow than Yang ducked and her grin seemed to grow even broader and Clark realized what had been happening. She had been baiting him was the thought that flashed across his mind as she stooped low and drew both fists back.

“Boom,” she said through an excited grin. 

Shooting up; pushing off with both legs, she drove both her fists into Clark's stomach and the very air seemed to crack at the force of the impact as the sound of a meteor strike chorused through the room. Then he heard it, that familiar sizzling sound and scent of dust starting to reactant as both of Yang’s gauntlets discharged an absolutely massive explosive blow. The entire arena was engulfed in bright yellow light as Clark was hurled back and slammed in the wall with loud metallic gonging sound.

“You good Smallville...or you wanna go another round?” Yang shouted into the cloud of dust between gasps as she put her hands on her hips in an attempt to open her lungs while still trying to look imposing.

“No, no, I'm good...you win,” Clarked called out between hacking coughs.

“Well, nothing to be ashamed of. You put up one hell of a fight, and you hit like a truck...whew! Haven't had a brawl like that in a while,” said cheerily.

“Glad you had fun, but think I cracked a rib,” Clark joked as he stood up and began to walk back towards Yang as he dusted himself off and took his knuckle dusters off.

“Ehh, just drink some milk and it'll…” she started to say in a teasing voice but stop dead the moment Clark excited the dust cloud and she just stared at him. Clark noticed that here heart rate; which had been slowing, suddenly jumped back up.

“What? What's wrong?” Clark asked deeply concerned at the sudden and unexplained change in her pulse and he began to jog over to her.

“Good God Smallville! You look like one of those guys on the covers of those trashy romance novels they sell in grocery stores! I mean look at you!” she exclaimed pointing an almost accusing finger at him.

Clark was thoroughly confused for a moment but when he looked down, he saw what she was talking about. His sweatshirt; which he had been using to hide his own powerful build, had been reduced to cinders and taters by Yang's final blow, and he suddenly felt very self conscious. He made a very futile attempt to try and cover himself with his arms. This time when he blushed however, he was not alone as Yang very unabashedly stare at him. 

“Can I help you with something?” Clark said sarcastically and much more snarkily that he normally spoke and that seemed to draw her back to reality. She gave him an appraising, almost predatory, look up and down and grinned.

“Maybe,” she said in a slightly husky tone Clark absolutely did not like, and when he turned away in embarrassment she realized her answer may have been the wrong thing to say. “Hey, I was just kidding, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable,” she said apologetically.

That seemed to help a bit, but he was still clearly extremely uncomfortable at the moment. Yang couldn't understand for the life of her what for. Clark was built like those statues of ancient heroes who were decedent from gods. His physique was, well, she would describe it as perfect. But she also knew not everyone saw things the same way, and just because he was fit did not mean he necessarily had a good self image. So she wasn't going the argue with his feelings on the matter. Instead she walked over to her duffle bag, reached in, and pulled out her sweater from that morning. She gave it a quick sniff and cringed a little, it did smell a little funky but beggars can't be choosers.

“Yo Smallville catch,” she called out and tossed it to him. He turned around just in time for it to hit him in the face and she couldn't suppress a giggle. “It's big on me but it should fit you, just barley.”

With a grin of thanks he quickly slipped her sweater over his head. As he did this Yang couldn't help but marvel at how every motion he made; no matter how minute, seemed to make his muscles twitch and react. She thought it was a shame for him to cover them up but even after he pulled the shirt down his build was still abundantly apparent.

“Thanks, I really appreciate it,” Clark said awkwardly.

“Eh, no sweat, speaking of which, sorry I didn't think I'd be sharing my clothes,” she responded sounding almost embarrassed at the idea that Clark might smell her sweaty workout gear.

“It's not a problem, really, you didn't need to do anything at I really appreciate it,” Clark said as he tugged at the bottom of the sweater that didn't quite reach his waist line.

“Yeah well I couldn't have you walking around getting all the attention,” she teased as she reached into her bag and produced a bottle of water and tossed it to him as she walked over and took a seat on the bleachers before taking out another bottle, cracking the cap and slugging it down in one go before letting out a satisfied “Ahhhh.”

“Come on, you're a beautiful girl, some farm boy ain't gonna outshine you,” he joked back.

This made her blush, even if it was only just slightly. It wasn't the being complimented, she had heard compliments about her looks ever since she had started to develop. Sexy, hot, bombshell, sensual, even seductive and so on. But use of the word beautiful from anyone other than her family was virtually nonexistent, and honestly it made her feel strange, but not in a bad way.

“That very well may be, but, this school is about eighty percent chicks, you do the math,” she said, her normal cocky and self assured tone returning.

“True, but you're pretty enough to where I don't think that would matter,” Clark said back, feeling slightly uncomfortable at the mildly off color nature of his joke. He was not one to make such comments and he was honestly surprised with himself. It was something his parents would have given him a lightly disapproving look for. But he didn't think it was all that bad, partially because he thought in some way it was true, he could tell Yang would likely be chased after by both sees during her time here.

“Knock it off,” she said through a chuckle punching him in the arm as he laughed and sipped his water causing him to accidentally spill water all down his front. 

Again his choice of a word like “pretty” struck her and again she felt mildly embarrassed? Flustered? Flattered? She wasn't quite sure, but again she found she didn't really mind.

“So...how'd I do today?” Clark asked nervously deciding to change the subject and get down to brass tax.

“Well, I'll tell ya I was kinda surprised. You picked up what I told ya pretty quick, but you're still sloppy when you get tired. But I gotta say “Man of Steel” makes a helluva lot more sense,”she said shaking her hand a little theatrically.

“Hey, I did tell you, which is more than I can say you did for me,” he teased as he bumped his shoulder into hers.

“Well, I gotta keep a little mystery,” she laughed “But I'm sure you figured part of it out all things considered,” she finished as she bumped him back.

“I think so, but I'll let you tell me for sure when you feel ready, I'm not really worried about it,” he said in a clearly forced unconcerned tone but did finish with a tiny smirk.

“Is our local farm boy starting to put up a cool front? You gettin’ a little big for your britches?” she teased back trying to pinch his cheek as she snickered.

“Quit it,” he said said as he batted her hand away but his smile never left his face.

It was weird Clark thought. Yang had been calling him “farm boy” all morning but it just didn't seem to bother him the same way it had when Weiss had said it. He supposed that it was because Yang had very clearly been just being playful, Weiss...well, she just hadn't.

After that the pair sat in silence for a while drinking water, resting up and letting themselves settle. After letting herself cool down for a minute Yang began to wipe sweat from her brow before lifting her arm and sniffing her armpit in a very unladylike fashion and gave off a small “ugh” before looking up over at Clark and her eyebrow raised curiously.

“Do you not sweat or what?” she asked looking over at him a little confused.

“Oh, yeah, well, really good cardio, takes a lot to get me sweating,” he answered in a tone he hoped didn't read as nervous. He had never once sweat a single bead and he really hope no one took too much notice.

“No kidding? Well, I'll have to start running with you, that's gotta be some crazy good cardio, we weren't even breathing hard until I knocked the wind out of ya,” she finished in an almost awed voice. “But I guess that should be a given, a body like yours,” she finished a a tone she intended to be complimentary but it only seemed to unsettle Clark

“Yeah...well…I...yeah,” he stammered and mumbled but never said anything.

“I'm sorry dude, but you're like...you do know you're like totally stacked right? I just don't get why you hide it.”

“I just, well, I don't know. I've always been just another guy and I just...I don't know, I don't like to be the center of attention so I always just hid it,” he told her lamely. It was partially true as hr really didn't like people looking at him.

“Well, you should never be ashamed of what you look like. You gotta own it, people are always gonna state but you can't let them control your life,” she said in surprisingly sagely voice.

“Huh? I guess you're right,” he said having a small epiphany. Back home he did have to hide everything, for the second time in the last hour he was reminded things were different here. 

“Of course I am. Tell ya what, later, after I hit the sauna and we're all rested up we'll head into the city and get you some proper fitting clothes. Something to show off that figure of yours,” she said in a slightly suggestive tone, but was clearly all in good humor.

“I'm not sure I like the way you said that,” he told her and she just laughed.

“Okay, fair enough, but you gotta take a little pride in your appearance. To hide all...that, all your clothes have to be at least two sizes too big,” she said gesturing at him.

“Yeah, I guess you're not wrong, but the fact of the matter is…” Clark began but trailed off, he did particularly like to discuss his family finances. 

They weren't poor, but the simple fact of farm life was that a lot of money went back into farm and he just simply didn't have the money to spend on unnecessary clothing, nor did he really want to either to be honest. Yang seemed to be able to pick on this and changed tactics.

“Tell you what, let me treat you, I can't have my teammates walking around not looking their best.”

“That's very kind of you but…”

“Hey now, this ain't charity.” she interjected. “I just don't like owing anyone anything and see as how I left half your clothes in ashes on the floor, I figure I can afford to make you look a little better.”

“Yang...I appreciate it, I really do but…”

“Great, we’ll head oot later,” she interrupted cheerily as she stood up and pat him on the knee.

“But I...do I even have a choice ?” he called after her his tone defeated and lame as she sauntered off towards the showers.

“Nope,” she answered popping the “P” before turning back to face him. “Don't worry we'll make you look sexy,” called back in a cartoonish voice while pointing finger guns at him and mouth ‘Pew Pew’.

“You know you make me really uncomfortable sometimes!” he shouted after her.

“You love it!” she shouted back wearing an extremely toothy grin before spinning around and swaggering off, and Clark couldn't; despite his best efforts, couldn't keep himself from laughing.


	10. Chapter 10

The first day of classes had been about what Clark expected. A great deal of information was thrown at them about what was to come and what was expected of them. Clark scribbled down everything that every instructor had said and memorized as much as he possibly could. He was; and had always been, an apt pupil but he was at a marked disadvantage here.

The entirety of his schooling up until this point had been focused on general studies. History, math, science, and language so his grip on the Grimm, history of the huntsmen, warfare and everything else here at Beacon were rather wanting. He had tried his best to study up before he arrived but Ozpin had forgotten; or had chosen, to not tell him what he should have studied beforehand.

Clark was not terribly distressed, he knew he could catch up if he put his mind to it but he was behind for the first time in his life. In all honesty, he was kind of enjoying it, as odd as that may sound. He was always so far ahead that looking at those in front of him was oddly refreshing. But as they entered the final class of the day, Grimm Studies, he did find himself more nervous then he had been previously. The other classes had at least some overlap with what he had experienced at his old school, even if it was relatively small. His knowledge in the area of Grimm, however, was virtually nonexistent.

Sure he knew a lot of the basic stuff. Grimm were; despite all appearances to the contrary, not alive. They moved, ate, and seemed to have some rudimentary thought process but they were more akin to biological machines than anything else. They didn't seem to feel and even though they did eat, it did not appear to be a requirement of their existence. So Clark had never felt any guilt about destroying the beasts when that had happened to wander too near to Smallville.

He also knew that they were primally and instinctively drawn towards grief, sorrow, rage, melancholy, and other negative emotions. But even children knew that it was tantamount to learning fire is hot. It was just one of those things every child probably knew before they could actually remember.

But beyond that, he didn't know all that much about what he was training to hunt. He didn't know many of different classifications. His understanding of their behavior and habits did not extend beyond the most rudimentary. Proper techniques for combating and detaining were...well, Clark supposed that particular aspect wasn't all that important, at least not to him. But it still showed his lack of understanding of the subject.

So with equal parts trepidation and excitement, he entered the classroom of Professor Peter Port. Most of the class was already seated and he took note of his "current team" sitting down in front. Gingerly and clumsily he made his way to the open seat next to Ruby.

"Whew, the first day's almost done," Clark said merrily as took his seat and began to unload his books and notes.

"Yeah, super boring, I can wait to get to the good stuff," Ruby responded in an exasperated tone.

"Yeah it has been a bit dry, but we can't build a house with no foundation," he said jokingly but Ruby only looked confused.

"What does construction have to do with school work?" she asked seeming genuinely confused.

"It's well, I mean to say," Clark started sounding flabbergasted.

"It means you need to know the basics before advancing," Blake said calmly from her other side.

"Oh…OOOH, yeah, yeah that makes sense," she mumbled having caught on, her face flushing from embarrassment.

Clark could hear Yang and Blake snicker, but they did say anything. Weiss made a scoffing noise followed by a very nasty sounding "Wow" but she didn't comment on the situation either. Which Clark thought was for the best, Weiss was clearly the odd man out on the team and she needed to learn how to better temper herself.

"Good afternoon class!"

The loud voice of Professor Port boomed across the classroom and drew all their attention. He was a shorter than average man with the telltale signs of having a powerfully built body that was past its prime. He seemed to walk with a bit of swagger as he began his lesson.

Clark immediately began to take notes on everything he said, almost transcribing verbatim what he was saying. He was terribly excited to be learning about Grimm and was listening with rapt attention. After fifteen minutes of lecturing and old stories, however, Clark began to feel his excitement wane.

Professor Port was not exactly the most exciting of teachers. He droned on and on about himself and Grimm without ever giving any real information and he gave Yang, what Clark considered, a very inappropriate look and a wink. Clark was pretty sure it wasn't anything, but it was still not proper for an instructor to do such a thing. He could also tell it made Yang pretty uncomfortable as well, and that just irritated Clark all the more. It just wasn't proper.

But he didn't do anything else and went back to droning on. Every once in a while something useful would crop up in his anecdotes and Clark would jot it down but by and large, this class was a lot less interesting than Clark would have thought.

Having filled his third page of notes he turned the page of his pad as he opened his textbook hoping to glean some useful information from what Professor Port was saying. As he began to scan the text he heard a soft noise off to his side. A small snuffling sound followed by a tiny little snort, it was snoring.

Glancing over he sees that Ruby had fallen fast asleep with her head propped up on her hand. Her pencil had rolled out of her grip and sat over a doddle labeled "Professor Poops" that lay below the limited notes she had taken. Looking up at their teacher Clark saw he hadn't noticed Ruby foray into dreamland, or the rest of the classes lack if attention for that matter.

"Ruby," Clark whispered out of the corner of his mouth. When she didn't stir he raise his voice a small amount. "Ruby, wake up," he whispered again and she didn't stir at all. Okay, this wasn't working, he could speak any louder with drawing attention so instead, he just leaned over and prodded her gently with his elbow before whispering a final "Ruby."

The result was a fair bit more dramatic than Clark had been expecting. With a loud snort and a gasp as she jumped up in her seat and began to look around almost frantically.

"I'M AWAKE!" she practically shouted in terror. Yang snickered, Blake smiled, and Weiss scoffed.

"Glad to hear it, Miss Rose," Professor Port said in a tone that suggested he was excited about how her enthusiasm, he hadn't once noticed her dozing. "So do you have the spirit of a true Huntress?" he asked in jovial voice and Ruby looked thoroughly confused. She hadn't heard his little speech about the heart and character Huntsmen and Huntresses, luckily for her Weiss jumped on the opportunity as he hands shot up in the air.

"I do sir," she said with fire in eyes.

"Excellent, excellent Miss Schnee, I hope you're ready," he said cheerily as he walked over to a cover crate and lifted the veil. A snarl and snorting sound filled as the cage rattled and shook and beads of glowing red embers shone through the dark.

Weiss stood with purpose and conviction and gave a nod as she left to change and obtain her weapon. She returned in short order and struck her En-garde position in the center of the class. It was almost a mechanical and robotic how well she moved and readied herself for combat.

"Come on Weiss represent team RWBY!" Ruby yelled enthusiastically.

"Yeah, do it to it," Yang shouted.

"Ra, ra," Blake deadpanned as she waved a small makeshift pennant.

Clark decided that, despite how she had treated him, she was still a teammate and he'd support and cheer for her. So he stuck his fingers in his and blew a hard creating a near ear-splitting whistle and began to clap. When Weiss looked around and glowered at him he stopped immediately and slumped down in his seat.

"Get ready," Professor Port said as he stood by the cage as it seemed about ready to burst. "Begin," and the latch as released and the beast burst forth.

It looked like a boar, a boarbatusk? Clark wasn't sure if that was the right name but it sounded right. But the name didn't really matter as the Grimm charged Weiss and she stood unshaken.

With a clang, she deflected the tusks as they attempted to gore her as she sidestepped and delivered a sweeping strike to the beast's back. The edge of her rapier dug into the back but only just barely. It's back was too heavily armored and it's hide was too thick.

Weiss leaped back as its head swung around trying to slash at her. It charged again and Weiss met it her blade locking up with its tusks. The sound of steel scraping in bone made Clark cringe slightly, something about that sound just drove him crazy. The sound was soon drowned out by Ruby.

"Weiss, go for the underbelly, it's less armored!" she shouted.

"Shut up!" she yelled back but her lapse in concentration costed her as her blade was ripped from her hand and tossed across the room.

"Oops," Ruby muttered as Weiss dove out of the Grimm's reach and rolled to put some distance between her and her attacker.

"Oh, you've been disarmed, what will you do now?" Professor Port said with a clear sense of amusement in his voice.

Weiss unfurled from her roll and sprung up onto her knees just as the boar skull was upon her. On pure instinct, she summoned a shield glyph and deflected what was sure to a devastating strike. The boarbatusk was hurled backward and gave Weiss the room she needed to reclaim her weapon. One final time the beast charged but this time it found itself impaled through the stomach on Weiss' sword. The beast froze and took only a moment for the class to realize something was wrong. Clark could tell by her heartbeat, Weiss knew even before her blade had sunk in she had missed her mark.

She tried to withdraw her blade but as the Grimm began to thrash around her blade remained embedded and her grip was lost. It lashed out and its tusks met another of her glyphs but this one was smaller and didn't protect her anywhere near as much and she was knocked off balance. Flat on her back the boarbatusk pressed it's snout against her and began to snap its jaws.

Weiss gripped the tusks and forcibly kept it at bay as it's head whipped back and forth trying desperately to get at her. She pushed across the floor until she was press against the wall and Clark could hear her heartbeat begin to rise. He considered jumping over the desk and helping her but she didn't need it. Just as the jaws of the beast were about to close on her head she stuck her hand out and its teeth cracked on a glyph before she waved her hand and it expanded. With a wet pop, the boarbatusks head splayed open at the jaw and the beast fell limp before disintegrating.

Clark, without planning, without thinking jumped over his desk and ran to her side. Her attitude be damned she was still a lady and he had been raised to help a lady in distress. Running over to her he knelt down and reached out to aid her.

"Are you ok…" he began before she knocked his hand away.

"I'm fine hayseed Harry," she said with a lot of anger in her voice for it to be directed at someone how was just offering to help and Clark felt his ears start to burn at the insult.

"Very good, very good, this young lady has the heart of a true Huntress in training. Well, that's all the time we have today. Make sure you do all the assigned reading and complete essay on proper rules for Grimm engagement, Class dismissed," Professor Port said cheerily as the rest of the class began to gather their things and leave.

Weiss dusted herself off before stalking over to her desk and gathering her things and left the room rather abruptly. Yang and Blake came over towards him as Ruby chased after Weiss.

Yang clapped him on the shoulder as Blake gave him a sympathetic look.

"Don't worry Smallville, she'll come around, you know she's not all bad...not all the time at least, hehe," Yang said sagely before switching to a joking manner.

"She must switch personalities when she's not around me, she really seems to dislike me for some reason," Clark mumbled.

He honestly had no clue as to why she seemed to have such a chip on her shoulder about him. She seemed to get irritated with Ruby pretty often but that seemed to be derived from Ruby's position as leader of the team. As unfair as it was he could at least see the thought process behind it, her rage towards him had neither rhyme or reason.

As he walked back to his desk to gather his things, he thought about it and tried to assign some logic to it. Could it be because he had outperformed her at the entrance exam? Maybe, but no one else on the team seemed to take issue with it. Perhaps it was the perceived special treatment he had received. Well, to be fair, he had received special treatment but it's not like he was treated any better than any other student, it was just different. Letting a sigh out he began to pack up his things.

"Clark, don't let what she says affect you. I don't know what her problem is but it's not you," Blake said kindly as she walked up to him.

"Thanks, Blake, I guess I'm just not used to being so…"

"Rude?" Blake finished for him.

"Well...yeah, I was raised to treat everyone with a certain level of decency and I guess, well, I don't know," he finished lamely as he slung his bag over his shoulder.

"You are a bit too understanding Clark, and a little too kind for your own good," Blake said with a tiny teasing smirk, yes a smirk.

"I don't think being nice is a problem," Clark answered defensively.

"They say nice guys finish last," Yang offered with a grin as she walked up to them.

"At least they don't ever regret what they did to get there," Clark said back with a smile of his own causing Yang to let out an overdramatic sigh as she reached up and patted him lightly on his cheek.

"You're such a good boy," she cooed in a playful tone.

"Knock it off," he said as he knocked her hand away, but he laughed in spite of his attempt to seem serious.

"If you two are done flirting we should go find the others," Blake said in a monotone, but she couldn't hide the tiny smirk appearing on her face.

This caused Clark's face to turn scarlet.

"We aren't...I'm not...that's…" he stammered out as Yang burst out into boisterous laughter.

"You are just adorable," she said to him as she pinched his cheek. "Come on, Blake's right, we should find those two before they kill each other," she finished happily as she turned to leave and Clark was happy for the subject to change.

They didn't need to go far before they ran into an irate Weiss tromping her way back into the classroom. She pressed to pass them and they decided that it was best just to leave her be for a moment. When a melancholy-looking Ruby walking around the corner it was Yang who reached her first.

"Hey Rubes...what's wrong?" she asked her voice laced with concern.

"Huh?" she said seeming to come out of a revery "Oh, nothing, nothing, but say why don't we have a bit of a study party tonight? You get a jump start and bond as a team!" she said with a vigor and enthusiasm just a shade too intense to be entirely genuine.

"You feeling okay?" Yang said as she put her hand to her sister's forehead.

"Pffft, yeah, totally I just thought it'd be a good idea," she said with a broad grin on her face.

Yang exchanged a questioning look with Clark then Blake but didn't say anything about.

"I think it's a great idea, my Grimm Studies are a little on the shaky side. Some help would do me a lot of good," Clark offered encouragingly, causing Ruby's plastered on grin to change to a genuine beaming smile.

"Well, it's decided then, think I'll go order a pizza, what does everyone want?" Yang asked very matter of factly.

The words pineapple, mushrooms, and anchovies came from Ruby, Clark, and Blake in turn and they all looked at one another before pointed to herself and said bacon.

"Well...no one is going to say it won't be an interesting piece of work, we should be praying?" she said sounding a bit afraid but laughed all the same.

"New best pizza," Ruby said merrily as she took another bite leaving a long string of cheese smattered with the odd assortment of toppings running from her mouth to the slice as she chewed merrily on what Yang had dubbed 'The Beast'.

Seeing as there was no common consensus on toppings Yang had made the executive decision to opt for what she had called the 'Bizarre and Daring' and had brought back the odd creation before them. This had not been what they expected when she said: Don't worry, I got this. It was clearly her idea of kind of joke, but they had been brave and tried it and found themselves pleasantly surprised.

"Yeah, not bad," Yang agreed through a mouth full of dough "Didn't think I'd like the fish but when you're right, you're right," she said to Blake who smirked.

"There's a joke there," she said slyly causing Clark to let out a choking cough for a moment.

"Get stuffed," Yang said back with a laugh as she threw a pillow from her bed at Blake who just leaned out of the way to dodge it.

"Come guys let's get to studying, we've got to read the first chapter of Grimm Anthology, and write our essays," Ruby said in a serious tone that failed to carry any weight as she had pizza sauce smeared on her cheeks, but they decided to listen all the same.

"Should we save some for Weiss?" Clark asked looking into the Pizza box was that nearing empty.

"You snooze you lose, she should've been here," Yang said unconcernedly as she scooped up one of the last three sliced and taking a large bite.

"Agreed, if she wants to wander campus all hours of the night well…" Blake trailed off as she took one of the remaining two.

"Nothing worse than cold pizza," Ruby said in a light tone sounding like she was justifying herself. As she reached for it but stopped before she looked at Clark. "Did you want it Clark?" she asked almost timidly.

"Oh no, you go ahead," he said kindly with a smile.

With a grin, she scooped it up and stuffed it in her mouth before choking and gagging. Yang gave her a pat on the back.

"Slow down, your gonna get yourself killed," she said as Ruby's hacking subsided. "How about we get to work eh?"

"Yeah...sounds good," Ruby said between gasps as she picked up her textbook.

After a bit of joking and fooling around, they did finally manage to get to work. They finished the reading and set to the task of writing. Clark had to stop every once and a while asking a question or two, well a few, okay more than a few. Sure had read the text, but a lot of it was dependant on a preexisting knowledge he just simply didn't have.

"So, when Grimm swarm you corral?" Clark asked looking up from his book.

"Corral and contain, yes," Blake said not looking up from her essay.

"You really need to brush up on this stuff Smallville, you can fight but your book learning on Grimm is a little on the rough side," Yang told him with a grin.

"Well I did say I was shaky on the subject," Clark said a faux tone of offense.

"You'll get there, we all have things to improve," Ruby said encouragingly.

Looking down at his watch Clark was a little shocked to see what time it was. It certainly hadn't felt like they had been that long. They have been here for nearly four hours.

"Oh wow, it's almost eight thirty, I think it's about time we call it night," Clark said as he began to collect his things.

"Were you born thirty-five or something? It's not that late," Yang almost scoffed.

"Perhaps Clark is right, we do have classes tomorrow and maybe the first day isn't the best time to start the habit of unnecessarily late nights," Blake offered evenly.

"Ugh, fine, but we're getting crazy this weekend, total rager," Yang said in a tone that made the rest of them nervous.

"I'm not sure I like the sound of that," Clark said nervously.

"I have to agree with Clark, that sounds...intimidating," Blake said eyeing the blonde cautiously.

"You don't know the half of it, Yang goes totally nanners when she parties," Ruby in a conspiratorial tone.

"I do not go nanners," Yang said defensively.

"That's not what dad says," Ruby said in a singsong voice. "Why I remember him saying…" she began but was cut off.

"Ruby...don't," Yang growled in a warning tone.

"But our friends should know," she said with a sinister glint in her eye.

"Ruby Rose, I am warning you," Yang said dangerously.

"About that time dad caught you... AHHH," she began to elaborate before she sister tackled her to the floor shoving her hand over her mouth. A virtual cloud of chaos began to stir up as the two tussled around the room. Blake and Clark just watched as they as the brawl.

"This is normal right?" Clark asked.

"From what I have been able to gather yes, but I've only known them as long as you have," she responded calmly as she dodged a flying hairbrush.

"Right, seems like it's been longer," Clark said as he nonchalantly batted away a textbook. "Well, I'll leave you two to it. Good night, see you in the morning," Clark finished with a friendly wave and turn to leave.

"Good night Clark," Blake said in a formal, though kind, voice.

Mumbles and grumbles of "Good night," came from the tangled bedlam as it made its way around the room. With a small grin, he opened the door and exited. As he walked down the hall to his own room he thought to himself that, all in all, it had been a pretty good day.


	11. Chapter 11

The past three weeks had seemed to fly by for Clark. His lacking in Grimm Studies hadn’t been too much of an issue by the time the first week had finished. His innate ability to process information at an unnatural level had allowed him to catch up in terms of textbook knowledge. Now he found himself out ahead again and that brief moment of normalcy he had felt when he first started had begun to fade. But it was nothing that he wasn’t used too.

The team had begun to become more and more cohesive, well that wasn’t exactly true, not entirely true at least. Ruby’s team seemed to be getting on well enough, and he got along exceptionally well with Ruby, Yang, and Blake. While Weiss seemed to have been able to put aside her dislike for Ruby and had seemed to at least attempt to curb her hostile behavior towards him she still seemed to have a problem with him, and he had no idea why.

She would often send him disapproving looks when she thought he wasn’t looking and her constant use of “farm boy” and “hayseed” had begun to grate on his nerves. He would say that at least she kept them to grumbles to herself so she wouldn’t upset the others but he could still hear them as clear as day. He wasn’t even sure she was fully aware she was doing it. But even if the rest of the team never heard or saw what she did her demeanor had certainly made it very clear how she felt about him and they weren't blind to that.

When she spoke to him it was always in a very formal tone, very icy, cold, and distant. The way she conducted their interactions was all business. Granted this formality was in almost all the conversations she had, but with the rest of team her shoulders would relax, her spine would be less rigid and the occasional smile would grace her face or a small laugh would pass her lips. None of that ever happened with Clark. 

“You know she’s really not that bad,” Ruby said to Clark as they made their way towards team RWBY’s dorm room for another study session.

“You keep saying that, but she really seems to dislike me,” Clark mumbled as he adjusted the strap of his bag on his shoulder.

“She just needs to get used to you,” she said without really thinking about it.

“Just needs to get used to me huh? Thanks,” he teased back.

“You know what I meant,” she said back puffing her cheeks out.

“Well I’m glad you have such confidence in my ability to make friends, but it really feels like she’s just tolerating me until I cycle out,” he said a little dejected.

“How much longer are you gonna be with us anyway?”

“You should know, Ozpin should have been keeping you in the loop too. You are the team leader after all,” he said knowing full well she had no idea and likely hadn’t checked any school messages since term had begun.

“Pfft, yeah…I totally know, I was just making sure you knew,” she responded in a tone that wouldn’t have fooled anyone let alone Clark.

“Another week, then I’m moving to team JNPR,”

“Aww, we’re gonna miss you. We’ll have to throw you a little going away party.”

“You do know I’m not leaving the school and I’m going to be cycling back in a couple of months, right?”

“Yeah…still though,” she murmured as she looked down and began to fiddle with the hem of her skirt.

“Don’t worry we’ll still be friends, and I’ll be sure to come and visit, I’ll even write you guys,” he teased.

“Okay, I get it, I’m being a little silly,” she said with a smile as she opened the door to her room.

“Just a bit, I appreciate the sentiment though.”

When they entered Blake and Weiss were already their books out and ready. Blake looked up and gave a small wave, Weiss simply gave a curt nod. Setting his bag down Clark took what had become his regular seat by the window and began to unpack his things. Just then the door to the room swung open.

“THE BEAST HAS AWAKEN!” Yang shouted triumphantly as she entered the room holding her prize over her head.

Slamming the box down on the desk she flung the lid open to reveal the steaming surface of the Pizza. Clark could almost hear Weiss grimacing at the site of the bizarre creation the others seemed to be so fond of. Last time they had ordered she had let forth a slew of criticisms of the creation. Processed cheese? Sugary tomato paste? All that was to say nothing of the bizarre hodgepodge of toppings.

“Don’t make that face, no one's making you eat it,” Yang said.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Clark said a little eagerly as he began to dig through his bag. “My parents sent me a care package, it just arrived this afternoon,” he pulled out a container with a grin. “My mom makes the best cookies,” he said opening the box revealing an assortment about three dozen homemade chocolate-chip, Toll House, sugar, and peanut butter cookies. 

Ruby’s eyes grew about two sizes and she zipped over and gazed almost lovingly into the container.

“Careful Smallville, you might lose a finger,” Yang said with a laugh.

Ruby looked up at him and gave a questioning, almost pleading, look.

“Go ahead,’ he said with a nod and Ruby began to dig in.

“What’s this?” Blake asked as she plucked something else from the package. Looking up Clark saw a small envelope he hadn’t noticed at first.

“Huh, not sure?” Clark said reaching out to take it. Breaking the seal and tipping the envelope over a small chip fell out. Lifting it up to examine it, he didn’t really know what it was.”What is it?”

“It’s a data chip, your put in your scroll,” Blake said looking over his shoulder and examining it.

“Oh, I wonder what’s on it,” Clark said looking over his scroll. He had never used anything beyond the most mundane functions. After about minute of looking the device over he heard an exasperated sigh come from behind him.

“Good lord, if we wait for you we’ll be here all night,” Weiss said in a rather irritated tone as she walked over and plucked the chip and his scroll from his hands. “Of course you wouldn’t know,” she mumbled in such a soft tone it wouldn’t even qualify as a whisper. 

She tapped the side and a port opened and she inserted the chip. As she fiddled with the screen Clark turned the envelope over and saw a small message written on the front in his mother’s handwriting he hadn’t noticed before. It read ‘We Miss You’ encircled in a large heart.

“It appears to be a video,” Weiss said cooly as she tapped the screen before Clark could say anything, and suddenly everyone was watching his scroll and heard his mother’s voice.

“Is it on Johnathan?”

“Yeah...pretty sure, the light means it’s on...I think,” his father voice answered back.

“Hey Clark, we miss you,” Martha Kent said waving at the camera.

“Hey son, how’s it been going?” Jonathan said turning the lens around to face him as we waved before turning the camera back around to his wife.

“We miss you so much Clark and we’re so proud of you. We hope you're doing well,” Martha said as her eyes seemed to start to seem to shine.

“Someone else wants to say high too,” Johnathan’s voice said with a laugh as the camera swung around and focused on a golden retriever. “Say hi Shelby,” he chuckled as the dog began to bark and jumped on Johnathan and began to lick him. “Okay, okay, get down you dumb dog,” he said through a laugh as he pushed the excited canine off of him. “Here are all the things you've been missing,” he said as he continued to laugh. “The fields are still empty, we haven't started planting yet haha.”

“Johnathan stop,” Martha said with a chuckle.

“What? Clark will want to know that the tractor is still here,” he said cheerily as he focused on the farm equipment. “Oh and the oak tree is still standing, the barn, of course, is still standing,” he chortled as a large tree with a tire swing came into focus followed by the family barn.

“Johnathan,” his mother said again still trying to suppress laughter.

“Oh, he knows I'm just funnin’ with him,” he said with a chuckle.

“Come on, say something serious,”

“Okay, okay,” he said as he focused the camera on himself. “Clark, your mother and I... we...we can’t tell you how happy we are that you’ve decided to put your talents towards helping others...to help everyone. We just...we’re so proud of you,” Johnathan said, his eyes seeming to become brighter which caused Clark's own eyes to water a tiny bit. 

Walking over he pulled his wife close so that they were both in the frame. They smile warmly as they waved at the camera.

“We miss you so much Clark and we can't wait for you to come home for a visit,” his mother said as she wiped her eyes.

“Oh and be sure you bring those friends you were talking about for the summer fair, maybe that pretty girl you were going on about,” his father said jokingly.

“John, stop teasing him,” she exclaimed with a smirk as she slapped her husband’s shoulder. “Oh, and be sure you share those cookies!”

“We’ll see you real soon son.”

“Take care of yourself, we love you, son,” Martha said as she kissed her hand and pressed it to the lens before she and her husband began to wave at the camera and the recording ended.

Clark felt his cheeks burning in mild embarrassment but he could bring himself to care. He was smiling broadly as he wiped a single tear from his eye.  
“Wow...your parents are adorable,” Yang said with a big grin as the video ended.

“Your mom makes the best cookies,” Ruby said in a muffled voice with her mouth crammed full.

“They seem sweet,” Blake said kindly.

Weiss made no comment but seemed to even more irritated than before as she walked back to her bed.

“They're the best,” Clark said a little sadly, he really missed his parents, but it did him a lot of good to see them, even if it was just a video.

“So...which of us were you going on about?” Yang asked teasingly as she waggled her eyebrows.

Clark’s faced turned even redder as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “It’s not like that, I told them about all of you and my mom asked if I thought any...well...if that any of you were cute and well...” he trailed off as he hesitantly raised his eyes to look at them. Yang smirked, Blake gave an almost knowing look, Weiss looked irate and Ruby was absolutely flushing red.

Clark could tell Yang was about to continue her assault and probably poke at him a bit more than he would have liked but Weiss was the next to speak.

“Okay, are we done? Can we get to work or do we want to hear about Hayseed Harry’s dirt farming parents again?” she said with a level of irritation and anger none of them had heard before. But the moment she finished speaking all eyes were on her in utter shock, they couldn’t believe she had just said something so cruel.

Clark had finally had enough. She could mock him all she wanted, but she was not going to insult his parents. He could handle the irritation, the mocking and dismissal. But to insult his parents, two of the kindest people his the world, people who had opened their hearts and home to him, people she'd never met. That seemed to be the straw the broke the camel's back and he finally lashed out.

“What is your problem with me?” Clark exclaimed. “I haven't done anything to you and you just treat me like dirt! Why?” he didn’t shout, but his voice carried a gravity none of them had ever heard before.

“I…” she began, but he didn’t let her finish.

“No, you know what? I don’t want to hear it. My parents may not have had a lot, but at least they could afford to raise me right,” Clark regretted what he said before the words had even left his mouth but he couldn’t seem to stop himself, and the silence that followed was utterly deafening.

Weiss looked up at him as though she had been slapped. Her heartbeat and her blood pressure were elevated. She let out a huff and stomped her foot before she turned away and left the room. The other three just stared at Clark, looks ranged from confused to mildly impressed.

“Whoa, Smallville...you totally torched her,” Yang said not able to hide a tiny sense of amusement even though she was clearly shocked and somewhat disapproving as well.

“She has been treating you rather poorly, not that what you said was right but…” Blake said evenly.

“I have to go apologize to her,” Clark said with determination as he made his way towards the door.

“Maybe let her cool down for a little?” Ruby offered meekly but Clark just shook his head.

“I shouldn’t have said that...I’ll be back,” he said determinately and left the dorm and went in search of Weiss. 

Clark’s mind was racing. What had he been thinking? Lashing out at her like that. His parents had raised him better than. He was mad, she had no right to insult his mother and father let alone any cause. But even though he may have been justified in his anger he had not been justified in what he said. 

So now he was searching for Weiss and she was easy enough for him to find. The sound of her heart was something he had, whether he like it or not, had committed to memory. Just like Ruby’s rabbit-like heartbeat, Blake’s constant metronome, or Yang’s slow drumming beat. He had memorized all of their signals and could follow them.

He found her stand atop the roof of the dormitories staring off into the star-strewn sky.

“Miss Schnee?” he said hesitantly as he approached her.

“What do you want?” she said not turning to face him, but her voice sounded strained and almost as though it was ready to crack.

“Well...I...uh, I wanted to apologize. I shouldn't have said that I’m sorry,” and he meant it, he truly did. But she just scoffed.  
“Why?” she responded harshly before mumbling “It’s not like you're wrong,” in a dejected, almost ashamed voice.

“I’m sorry?” Clark asked before realizing he probably shouldn't have been able to hear what she had said.

“I said you’re not wrong!” she nearly shouted as she spun around to face him and Clark say the tears in her eyes and the wet streaks stained her cheeks and Clark was very nearly stunned.

“Weiss I…” he stammered but she cut him off.

“And it’s not fair!” she shouted seemingly letting all reservation and checks she had in place fall away.

“Not Fair? What are you…” he began but again she stopped him.

“You're a nobody from nowhere and you are better than any of us...better than me,” her voice finally cracked as she finished her eyes casting down.

“What? I’m not better than any of you.”

“Oh please,” she nearly scoffed as she wrapped her arms around herself and half turned away. “You completed initiation by yourself, faster than any team in Beacon’s history. Your grades are perfect and don’t deny it, you try to hide it but I’ve seen your records. On top of all that your combat capabilities…” but started but it was Clark’s turn to cut her off.

“Now hold on, there are a lot of people doing better than be in combat courses, you included,” he told her defensively but she only snorted.

“Oh please, Yang told us about your fight. You’re holding back in class, I don’t know why, but you are any huntsman worth their salt could see that. On top of everything else you’re always so...so nice!”

“What?” Clark exclaimed sounding utterly dumbstruck.

“I’ve been nothing but a bitc…”

 

“Please, don’t say that,” Clark said cutting her off, but that only seemed to aggravate her more.

“Rruaagh!” she cried practically gripping at her hair. “You see! You won’t even let me insult myself!” she very nearly screamed as she began to pace back and forth. “I've had everything! All the advantages. Training! The best tutors! Pedigree! My name! My resources! You’re still better than me and your parents…” she stopped suddenly as though she had caught herself saying something she shouldn’t have and turned away from him completely again. “It’s not fair,” she finished in a whimper and Clark could hear her making small hiccupping noises, as though she is trying to keep something bottled up.

Suddenly Clark understood, or at the very least he thought he did. She was; despite all her attempts to appear to the contrary, a terribly insecure girl. She had every advantage the world could afford her and she was still being outclassed by a nobody and he was fairly certain there was more at play with her parents but he wasn’t going to press the issue.

“Weiss,” he began.

“Just go...I don’t want to hear it,” she murmured.

But Clark wasn’t about to let her sit here in distress. No, she hadn’t been kind to him, she had been downright mean to him. But seeing her here, looking so alone and her heart being laid so bare, he could allow her to wallow in her self-loathing. Walking over to her he gently gripped her shoulder and spun her around before pulling her into a gentle embrace.

She let out a small squeak of surprise and was silent for a moment before speaking. “What do you think you’re doing?” she mumbled into his chest.

“Hugging you,” he said simply.

“Well...stop it,” she grumbled into his shirt as she let out sniffle but made no effort to pull away.

“I’m sorry Weiss, I really am,” he said again as he felt her begin to softly cry.

“Why are you so nice,” she said with a cracking voice, her arms reaching up to pull him closer.


End file.
